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Those are the planned movements of Anthony Bolton over the next couple of weeks, as the star fund manager looks to raise £630m for his new venture in China.
Fidelity China Special Situations will be a closed-ended investment company that will be listed on the LSE in mid-April if all goes to plan. The portfolio will be made up primarily of securities issued by companies listed in China or Hong Kong, and Chinese companies listed elsewhere.
Anyway this is all good news for Cenkos Securities, a small quoted City-based broker, which has secured a potentially lucrative meal ticket — it is UK sponsor, broker and bookrunner to the offering.
Here’s a taste of the marketing literature for FCSS.
Bolton’s big idea is that China will be the investment opportunity of the next decade:
While China’s stock market has posted impressive gains as can be China: starts to outperform global markets seen on the chart, its increasingly dominant economic position, we believe, is not yet reflected in the size of China’s stock market which represents only 2% of the value of shares around the world*. Within twenty years, Anthony believes the Chinese stock market will become the world’s second largest by market capitalisation as a result of new issues and share price appreciation.
A vast country of over 1.3 billion people – we believe the economy will see a transition in domestic consumption and the emergence of a service economy and other industries which will present good stock-picking opportunities for investors who have the local resources and capability to uncover valuation anomalies or franchises of the future. We are already seeing an increase in spending power which is driving an increase in durable goods consumption and has seen China overtake the US as the biggest passenger car market in 2009.
Past performance, of course, is no indication of future performance, and it will be fascinating to see how Bolton’s famed contrarian approach works in a market where herd mentality seems to rule.
Although in light of the above, it looks like Bolton might ditch that in favour of something more momentum-driven.
Related links:
Guess who’s back – FT Alphaville
Anthony “The Bull” Bolton – FT Alphaville