The Index also briefly neared the threshold in 2015, when there were some “growth worries” about China and the renminbi. “So, I think there’s an opportunity to own some Hong Kong [equities] because it’s extremely low relative to its history,” says Matthews.
As the Hang Seng Index nears historic lows, Hong Kong equities present an attractive buying opportunity relative to other counterparts in Asia, says Mark Matthews, managing director and head of research for Asia Pacific at Julius Baer.
The P/B ratio of the Hang Seng Index has dipped under a single multiple only twice. The first happened in 1998, at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis. The other was in 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
