The “What & Where To Invest In 2010” poll had a record number of 35 participants from fund houses and financial advisers from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and India.  Here’s a sneak preview of the poll results. 

Section A: Macroeconomic Outlook

• Current pace of economic recovery is likely to be unsustainable and growth in the US is likely to be anemic in 2010.
• Moving forward, domestic consumption and investments, not exports, have to emerge as the more significant factors driving growth in Asia.
• The majority of the respondents polled believe that the massive government stimulus will continue to drive global growth in 2010, though the withdrawal of the stimulus, otherwise known as the “exit strategy”, would need to be well-executed and well-timed.

Section B: Asset Allocation

• Bonds may have overtaken equities as the preferred asset class among respondents in 2009, but for this 2010, equities emerges once again at the pole position as the clear favourite for fund managers, financial advisers and investment experts with 73% of the votes.
  
• Majority of the respondents to the poll highlighted equities as their top choice largely because of anticipated upside in the market brought on by the improving economic climate.  
  
• The current stage in the investment cycle is defined by its improving growth, profit outlook, low interest rates and plenty of cash on the sidelines. This climate favours equities and other listed growth assets over cash and bonds.

Section C: Equities

• Asia ex-Japan emerged as the most favoured regional equity market, with close to half of the votes. Emerging markets followed behind, with 34% of the votes.
• The US was the regional market least favoured by the respondents, with 30% of the votes, followed by Japan, with 24% of the votes.
• Among the Asia ex-Japan equity markets, China emerged as the overall favourite, with 55% of the votes; Malaysia was the least favoured market, with 35% of the votes.

Section D: Favourite & Least Favourite Sectors

• As the global economy recovers, respondents this year favored cyclical sectors.
• The respondents liked the Commodities, energy, and materials sector the most (46%), followed by industrials and infrastructure (18%), in a distant second.
• The Property sector was the least favourite sector, with 35% of the votes.

Section E: Fixed Income

• Investment grade bonds within the fixed income asset class have received the thumbs up from almost half of the respondents of this year’s poll.
• A significant 48% of the respondents say that government bonds are least likely to perform in 2010. The non-investment grade was the second least preferred bond class with 22% of the votes.

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