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Investment opportunities

July 2024

Moderately positive medium-term outlook

Expect markets to stay volatile in the short term given a confluence of economic and geopolitical uncertainties. However, opportunities exist for medium term investors with the risk appetite and patience. In our view, the broader medium-term outlook remains moderately positive given decent economic and earnings fundamentals, and an abundance of liquidity on the sidelines.

Harnessing opportunities in digital infrastructure

China’s policy of focusing on innovation, technology upgrades and localisation would be supportive for the outlook on related hardware and digital infrastructure plays. These include cloud, data centres, networking equipment, PC supply chains, smartphones, semiconductors, and servers, which should benefit from increased infrastructure demand. For example, semiconductors would dominate revenue and profits created by new AI applications. Also, nearly all generative AI (GenAI) workloads are operated in cloud data centres.

Structured Investments

Theme: Bridging the Infrastructure Gap

Despite market volatility, Chinese telcos continued to outperform the market in 2023, where China’s big three telcos have delivered double-digit cloud revenue growth in 2023. The telecoms sector in general is often viewed as defensive as the demand for telecommunication services is relatively more resilient even during periods of economic downturn.

Chinese telcos, such as China Telecom (CT) and China Mobile (CM) see increasing growth potential in AI and continue to enhance the development and deployment of AI in their businesses. This would further enhance these telcos’ capability to offer one-stop solutions to empower customers’ digital applications and infrastructure.

  • China Telecom (CT) is a leading integrated intelligent information services operator whose principal business includes mobile telecommunication services, wireline, industrial digital services etc. It has the largest industrial Internet business exposure and continues to lead in the cloud business among China’s big three telcos. CT’s industrial digitalisation business remained the key growth driver, with revenue growing 17.9% YoY to CNY138.9b in FY2023. CT has developed the Xinghe AI algorithm platform and built the industry’s first billion-parameter large-scale model for urban governance. It is believed that CT’s focus on government and administrative entities will help to insulate it from public cloud price competition while it stays committed to building a solid computing force network to capture opportunities from China’s AI development.

  • China Mobile Ltd (CM) is a China-based company mainly engaged in communication and information services, with its businesses primarily consisting of the mobile voice and data business, wireline broadband, communications services, etc. CM’s operating revenue increased 8.7% YoY to CNY478.6b in 2H2023, with digital transformation revenue remaining as the key growth driver for CM. CM has established its AI platform (Jiutian) which provides general AI capabilities such as facial recognition, voice recognition and synthesis, and offers deep learning and automatic modelling functions for customers to develop their own AI applications. Under this platform, CM launched the Jiutian massive computing public administration model and the Jiutian customer service model, which would help to promote the digitalisation and integration of various industries.

Bonds

This perpetual is suitable for those looking for a quality company which focuses on retail real estate in the Asia Pacific region.

Starhill Global REIT (SGD)

This perpetual pays a coupon of 3.85% p.a. with call date on 15 December 2025. The coupon will reset at SDSW5 + 3.292% if the bond is not called on call date.

Starhill Global REIT focuses on investing in retail real estate in the Asia Pacific region. Revenue is mainly contributed by Singapore (62%), followed by Australia (22%), Malaysia (15%), Japan and China as at 31 March 2024.

The portfolio performance continues to be steady with stable credit metrics (quarter-on-quarter). The 12M adjusted interest coverage ratio (including perpetual distribution) as at 31 March 2024 remained unchanged at 2.9x while average interest costs rose (quarter-to-quarter) to 3.86% from 3.78% (end-2023).

Funds

PIMCO Balanced Income & Growth Fund

The PIMCO Balanced Income & Growth Fund is a global multi-sector strategy that seeks to combine PIMCO’s total return investment process and philosophy with income maximization. The Portfolio construction is founded on the principle of diversification across a broad range of equity and global fixed income securities. The fund has a historical annualised dividend yield of 6.67% p.a. (extracted from Bloomberg as of 30 June 2024).

Note: Past performance figures do not reflect future performance. Dividend figures are from Bloomberg, as of 30 June 2024.

Bond Funds

PIMCO GIS Income Fund

The PIMCO GIS Income Fund is designed for investors who seek steady income with a secondary goal of capital appreciation. It takes a broad-based approach to investing in income-generating bonds. The fund aims to achieve this by employing PIMCO’s best income-generating ideas across global fixed income sectors. The fund has a historical annualised dividend yield of 6.48% p.a. (extracted from Bloomberg as of 30 June 2024).

Note: Past performance figures do not reflect future performance. Dividend figures are from Bloomberg, as of 30 June 2024.

M&G (Lux) Optimal Income

* For a limited period, this fund is available at zero sales charge.

The M&G (Lux) Optimal Income Fund is a global bond fund that aims to provide a combination of capital growth and income to deliver a return based on exposure to optimal income streams in investment markets, while applying environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The fund has a historical annualised dividend yield of 5.99% p.a. (extracted from Bloomberg as of 30 June 2024).

Note: Past performance figures do not reflect future performance. Dividend figures are from Bloomberg, as of 30 June 2024

Equity Funds

AB Low Volatility Equity Portfolio Fund

The AB Low Volatility Equity Portfolio fund is a global equity fund seeking capital growth through securities of companies that the fund manager believes have lower volatility. Its investment approach focuses on quality, stability and price, where the fund seeks high quality stocks of companies with stable performance and predictable earnings, trading at attractive prices. The fund also has distribution share classes for investors looking for dividend income.

Currencies

The US Dollar Index (DXY) traded firmer for the month of June. The Fed’s guidance for only one rate cut in 2024 keeps the high for longer US rate narrative alive. Additionally, the recent US presidential debate served as a reminder about the two-way nature of US election risks, while Trump’s better showing in the debate over Biden added to USD’s market premium. Nevertheless, we continue to note that US exceptionalism has somewhat softened, versus the last few months when most data was still printing red hot. Growing strains are seen on US consumers while the tightness in the US labour market has eased. We continue to expect two rate cuts for 2024, with the first cut happening sometime in 3Q. For this year, we do not expect a significant decline in the USD but still expect it to trend just slightly lower as the Fed is done tightening and should embark on a rate cut cycle in due course. The scenario for a play-up of US-China trade tensions is becoming a real risk and should inject some uncertainty to markets - implying that the USD’s downward path may be bumpy and the currency may even face intermittent upward pressure if US-China trade tensions escalate.

Important Information

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

This document may be translated into the Chinese language. If there is any difference between the English and Chinese versions, the English version will apply.

  1. Any opinions or views of third parties expressed in this document are those of the third parties identified, and do not represent views of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC Bank”, “us”, “we” or “our”).
  2. This information is intended for general circulation and / or discussion purposes only. It does not consider the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person.
  3. Before you make an investment, please seek advice from your Relationship Manager regarding the suitability of any investment product taking into account your specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs.
  4. If you choose not to do so, you should consider if the investment product is suitable for you, and conduct your own assessments and due diligence on the investment product.
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Global Equities Disclaimer

  1. Dividend growth is not guaranteed, nor are companies in which you invest obliged to pay dividends;
  2. Companies may go bankrupt rendering the original investment valueless;
  3. Equity markets may decline in value;
  4. Corporate earnings and financial markets may be volatile;
  5. If there is no recognised market for equities, then these may be difficult to sell and accurate information about their value may be hard to obtain;
  6. Smaller company investments may be difficult to sell if there is little liquidity in the market for such equities and there may be substantial differences between the buying price and the selling price;
  7. Equities on overseas markets may involve different risks to equities issued in Singapore;
  8. With regards to investments in overseas companies, foreign exchange rates may move in an unfavourable direction affecting adversely the valuation of investments in base currency terms.

Foreign Currency

  1. Foreign currency investments or deposits are subject to inherent exchange rate fluctuation that may provide opportunities and risks. Consequently, exchange rate fluctuations may affect the value of your foreign currency investments or deposits.
  2. Earning on foreign currency investments or deposits may change depending on the exchange rates prevalent at the time of their maturity if you choose to convert.
  3. Exchange controls may apply to certain foreign currencies from time to time.
  4. Any pre-termination costs will be taken and deducted from your deposit directly and without notice.

Dual Currency Returns

  1. By buying Dual Currency Returns, you are giving us the right to repay you at a future date in a different currency from the currency in which you made your original investment, even if you would prefer not to be paid in this currency at that time. Dual Currency Returns are affected by foreign exchange rates, which may affect how much you get back from your investment. You may receive less than you originally invested.
  2. Foreign exchange control restrictions may apply to the foreign currencies linked to your Dual Currency Returns. As a result, we may repay your investment and interest in a different currency. You may receive less than you originally invested when the amount of this different currency is converted back to the base currency (the currency you originally invested). You may be able to get information on foreign exchange control restrictions, if any, for each foreign currency offered in relation to Dual Currency Returns, from the relevant monetary, regulatory or other governmental authorities for that currency.
  3. We will not end Dual Currency Returns before the maturity date (the date they are due to end). You may, however, withdraw the amount you originally invested before the maturity date. If you do this, please remember that you will have to pay any charges that apply which are calculated based on the amount of the time remaining before maturity date, as well as current market conditions relating to strike prices, foreign exchange rates and changes in the underlying foreign exchange pair. These charges may mean that you get back much less than you originally invested. Please feel free to approach your relationship manager for details of the procedures and charges that apply if you withdraw your Dual Currency Returns investment before the maturity date.
  4. Dual Currency Returns are not insured deposits for the purposes of the Deposit Insurance and Policy Owners’ Protection Schemes Act 2011.

Collective Investment Schemes

  1. A copy of the prospectus of each fund is available and may be obtained from the fund manager or any of its approved distributors. Potential investors should read the prospectus for details on the relevant fund before deciding whether to subscribe for, or purchase units in the fund.
  2. The value of the units in the funds and the income accruing to the units, if any, may fall or rise. Please refer to the prospectus of the relevant fund for the name of the fund manager and the investment objectives of the fund.
  3. Investment involves risks. Past performance figures do not reflect future performance.
  4. Any reference to a company, financial product or asset class is used for illustrative purposes and does not represent our recommendation in any way.
  5. For funds that are listed on an approved exchange, investors cannot redeem their units of those funds with the manager, or may only redeem units with the manager under certain specified conditions. The listing of the units of those funds on any approved exchange does not guarantee a liquid market for the units.
  6. Any indicative distribution rate may not be achieved and is not an indication, forecast, or projection of the future performance of the Fund.

Cross-Border Marketing Disclaimers

OCBC Bank's cross border marketing disclaimers relevant for your country of residence.

Any opinions or views of third parties expressed in this document are those of the third parties identified, and do not represent views of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (“OCBC Bank”, “us”, “we” or “our”).