- Looking ahead, China’s economy is poised to improve with the series of supportive monetary and fiscal policies that the central government have implemented in March/April this year.
- We think investors who are willing to look further out into the future, and not be shaken out by the heightened market volatility (driven mainly by chaotic US-China trade tensions), is primed to benefit from the attractive potential upside that China equity markets can offer.
- Even cheaper than China-A equity market (CSI300 Index), the undervalued China-H shares market is currently trading at one standard deviation below its ten-year average level.
- Combined with a resilient earnings growth outlook, China-H equity index (as measured by HSML100 Index) present an attractive upside potential of more than sixty percent by end-2021 and is currently the most attractive market under our coverage.
- We maintain our star rating of 4.5 stars “Very Attractive” for China-H market. Investors seeking an actively-managed solution can consider our recommended fund Fidelity China Focus A-USD.
China’s economy growth poised to remain resilient ahead
Chart 1: China’s PMIs rebounded in the last two months, July and August.

China Equities: A-shares and H-shares
Chart 2: Tencent and China’s Telcos are noticeably underrepresented in China-A share index.

China-H shares trade at a significant discount to China-A shares
Chart 3: H-shares have started to trade at a discount to their A-shares counterpart since late-2014.

Resilient Earnings Growth of HSML100 Index
Chart 4: HSML100 Index undergone drastic earnings revision since early last year.

Chart 5: Like China-A equities, we see resiliency in HSML100 index earnings driven by robust earnings outlook in its major sectors.

Undervalued China-H equity market present a highly attractive upside potential
Table 1: China-H present the highest upside potential for markets under our coverage.
|
HSML100 Index |
FY2018 |
FY2019 |
FY2020 |
FY2021 |
|
12M Forward PE Ratio (X) |
8.8X |
8.7X |
8.0X |
7.3X |
|
Expected Earnings Growth YoY |
8% |
6% |
8% |
10% |
|
Earnings Per Share (EPS) |
860 |
910 |
985 |
1082 |
|
Projected Fair Price |
- |
- |
11,815 |
12,983 |
|
Potential Upside% from today |
- |
- |
49% |
64% |
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilation. Data as of Sep 2019.
Chart 6: Cheap valuation – HSML100 Index currently trades at a forward PE ratio below one standard deviation of its 10-year average level.

Chart 8: The stable earnings growth outlook for HSML100 Index will play critical role in uplifting the index price movement ahead.

All materials and contents found in this site are strictly for general circulation and informational purposes only and should not be considered as an offer, or solicitation, to deal in any of the funds or products found/identified in this site. While iFAST Financial Pte Ltd ("IFPL") has tried to provide accurate and timely information, there may be inadvertent delays, omissions, technical or factual inaccuracies and typographical errors. Any opinion or estimate contained in this report is made on a general basis and neither IFPL nor any of its servants or agents have given any consideration to nor have they or any of them made any investigation of the investment objective, financial situation or particular need of any user or reader, any specific person or group of persons. You should consider carefully if the products you are going to purchase are suitable for your investment objective, investment experience, risk tolerance and other personal circumstances. If you are uncertain about the suitability of the investment product, please seek advice from a financial adviser, before making a decision to purchase the investment product. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. The value of the investment products and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. In respect of any matters arising from, or in connection with the said research analyses or research reports, recipients of the report are to contact IFPL at 10 Collyer Quay, #26-01 Ocean Financial Centre Building, Singapore 049315, or by telephone at +65 6557 2853. Where the report contains research analyses or research reports from a foreign research house and if the recipient of such research analyses or research reports is not an accredited investor, expert investor, institutional investor or an ex-accredited investor, IFPL accepts legal responsibility for the contents of such analyses or reports to such persons only to the extent as required by law. Please note that only certain security(ies) herein are available to all investors, while the rest are only available for certain persons to invest in, such as Accredited Investors (as defined in the Securities and Futures Act) or one who invests at least S$200,000 (or its equivalent currency) per transaction. To qualify as an Accredited Investor, one needs to submit a declaration form and certain relevant supporting documents, according to iFAST’s prevailing policies and procedures.
Please read our full disclaimers on the website at ( https://secure.fundsupermart.com/fsmone/policies/328125/investment-account-terms-&-conditions).
iFAST Financial Pte Ltd (IFPL) (registered address: 10 Collyer Quay #26-01 Ocean Financial Centre Singapore 049315, Telephone: 6557 2000) holds the Financial Advisers Licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore ('MAS') to conduct regulated activities of advising on securities, marketing of collective investment schemes and arranging of any contract of insurance in respect of life policies, other than a contract of reinsurance and the Capital Markets Services Licence issued by the MAS to conduct regulated activities of dealing in securities and providing custodial services for securities. While IFPL has made every effort to ensure the independence of the report's contents, IFPL's nature of business is such that IFPL and its connected and associated entities together with their respective directors, officers and staff may be involved in providing dealing or investment-related services in the abovementioned securities, and have taken or may take positions in the securities mentioned in this report, and may also act as the principal for any buy or sell trades.
