VETERAN fund manager Hugh Young said his firm bought the dip in Tencent Holdings Ltd. and kept most of its other big-tech holdings in China largely unchanged during the recent sell-off on expectations these stocks will emerge as winners despite China’s policy actions. While keen on Chinese tech, Aberdeen Standard Investments, which oversees about US$639 billion in assets globally, is avoiding the education sector, according to the Singapore-based chairman of its Asia unit. In fact, bellwethers in most industries offer upside opportunities, including property developer China Vanke Co., said Young, who has been with Aberdeen for three decades. “I don’t think anything strategic has changed” in China and regulations will benefit the responsible players, he said. “We have topped up with Tencent,” adding to what already was a large holding in the sector. Young’s optimism remains despite Chinese officials saying that more regulation is coming to the world’s second-largest economy over the next five years. About US$1 trillion in value was wiped out from China shares listed on the mainland, Hong Kong and the United States last month amid China’s regulatory moves against sectors ranging from education to technology. His views contrasts with that of other global asset managers, including Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood, who has said she has been selling China equities and warned that valuations will probably “remain down.” Some sovereign wealth funds and analysts also share Young’s confidence on China. Aberdeen Emerging Markets Fund is down 2.3 percent in past month to beat 68 percent of its peers, and up 1.3 percent this year to outperform 43 percent of its rivals. “China is just trying to make everything fairer for its citizens,” Young said. “Does that put us off investing in China? No,” he said, noting that regulatory moves also “happened in other economies when things boom.” (SD-Agencies) | 