2009/02 | AllianzGI

The Green Hope

Arne Tölsner, Director at RCM Asia Pacific, AllianzGI's equity company, comments on the current state of the Chinese stock market in the Euro am Sonntag (01.02.2009). According to Tölsner, not even China’s economy is able to remain unaffected by the global parameters. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the rate of the country's economic growth dropped below the critical rate of 8 percent. However, Tölsner remains optimistic about a recovery in the Chinese stock exchanges as the relatively robust fundamental data, such as low leverage and high savings, has not been taken into consideration. He describes the presently moderate market as “capitulation of the speculators in China” who are, apparently, keeping their “hot money” out of sight for now.

In an article edition entitled "The Green Hope” the Euro am Sonntag (01.02.09) is predicting the comeback of eco funds under Obama's progressive environmental policies. The article is based on AllianzGI’s recent environmental investing survey. Even though eco funds have been seriously affected by the difficult market in the last few months, American investors are prepared to put their money into eco stocks. Bozena Jankowska, chief strategist for sustainable investment at AllianzGI, believes it is too early to tell whether President Obama’s environmental programmes will actually have any effect. Nevertheless, wind energy in particular is expected to profit from these measures. The opportunity to invest in sustainability is just one option offered by Allianz-dit Global Eco Trends.

The Environmental Investing Survey is available for download in the "Useful Links" box at the top of this page.

Financial News (06.02.2009) is sketching a brighter future for the asset management and insurance industry on the back of an extensive study in which AllianzGI compared 17 Western European pension systems. According to the study the combined pension savings will double to approximately 16.9 trillion € by 2020. Within the countries surveyed public saving funds are being introduced more and more in order to cushion the cost pressure on their state pension systems. “These funds have grown considerably and are now crucial players in the financial markets,” says Brigitte Miksa, head of international pensions at AllianzGI.

This study is available for download in the "Useful Links" box at the top of this page.

In its 13.02.2009 edition, the Tagesspiegel discusses the renaissance of sovereign wealth funds under the title "Beloved Enemies". Once seen as a huge threat foreign investors could now turn out to be knights in shining armour. The financial sector in particular is counting on Oriental and Arab support because current nationalizations can only act as a temporary solution. “We badly need these investors for the purchase of national shares” says Joachim Faber, CEO of AllianzGI. Faber is calling on the state to do everything in order to guarantee “safe and stable basic conditions” for foreign sovereign wealth funds. He believes that sovereign wealth funds are still in a consolidation phase even though investors have been hit by the crisis and are clearly more careful now.

In an article entitled „Sell-out on the markets worldwide”, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (28.02.2009) describes investors’ increasing despair. The paper quotes Bill Gross, CIO of PIMCO, a company of AllianzGI, who talks about “the death of the share” and predicts that “things will never be the same again”. The current crisis, symptoms of which include ongoing bank nationalizations and daily declines in stock price, will have a grave impact on willingness to take risk. Because of this, according to Gross, in most people’s cases shares will cease to produce any yield “for the rest of their lives”.

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The Green Hope

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