Volatility concern for first-time millennial investors

For Beijing-based white-collar worker Yang Huan, the most exciting part of the day is around 9 pm, when she checks yields of funds she's invested in.

But unlike several months ago when Yang would brag to her friends about higher-than-expected return rates, she is now more worried about the recent turbulence among the public equity fund market.

"I've been losing money for a few days, and become anxious seeing some negative forecasts about funds and the stock market on social media platforms like Weibo," Yang said.

Yang started investing in public equity funds last year based on suggestions from a close friend.

"Seeing good investment yields in the first few months, I increased my investment to equal nearly one-fourth of my savings," she said.

Yang now holds 14 public equity funds covering areas including technology, consumption, liquors and medicine. She also follows nearly 20 other funds managed by some of the best-performing star managers.

Yang, 27, said she still does not have a professional understanding of the capital market, but she was lucky to have profited greatly from last year's stock market boom.

She is among the many now concerned about volatile fund performance. According to data by Choice, a financial data app of East Money Information Co Ltd, the net value of more than 200 funds fell by over 10 percent between Feb 18 and Feb 23. Hard hit sectors including consumption, especially baijiu－Chinese white liquor－and medicine topped the list in terms of worst performers.

The turbulence in the net value of public equity funds also became hot search topics on Weibo, with trending issues including whether now is still a good time to buy funds, which sectors to choose and whether investors should increase or reduce their investments in funds.

Tong Diyi, general manager of Longwin Asset Management Co Ltd, told International Finance News that the recent fund market volatility is mostly due to natural market adjustments, and there is no systemic risk.

Yang Delong, chief economist at First Seafront Fund, said that from a long-term view, there is still room for growth of funds that have had good performances, and the focus of investment will likely be on the consumption sector for the rest of this year. Yang also called for more attention to be paid to long-term performance rather than short-term turbulence when investing in funds.

Li Daxiao, chief economist with Yingda Securities, said that more household wealth is expected to flow into equities through funds, but the best timing for buying funds may have passed as the A-share market has risen a lot from levels seen in January 2019.

That said, it is unlikely that the stampede of investors rushing to buy funds will soon lead to systematic risks, as the whole A-share market is not overheated as it was before the market crash in 2015, Li said.

Despite quality names in such sectors as liquor having been pushed up, some blue-chip stocks in banking, property, industrials and manufacturing are still undervalued, he added.