Top US fund managers stay upbeat on China stocks amid AI, biotech boom
Templeton, Janus Henderson and Wellington Management see potential in stocks amid China’s pursuit of tech excellence
Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson Investors and Wellington Management – US fund managers with US$3.2 trillion of combined assets – are backing Chinese stocks to perform as the nation makes progress in biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), top executives said.
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough in January will help companies boost efficiency and power earnings growth in the coming years, they said in a panel discussion at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Thursday.
“Absolutely, China stocks are investible now, as in anything,” said Jenny Johnson, president and CEO of Templeton, the California-based firm with US$1.58 trillion of assets. China’s success in breaking the limits in AI, robotics, electric vehicles, batteries and other technology has been “unbelievable”, she added.
The Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong’s stock benchmark, has rallied by almost 20 per cent since January, after Hangzhou-based start-up DeepSeek launched two powerful and cost- effective large language models and caught many global investors by surprise.
At the same time US tech giants suffered a rout as investors looked for alternatives outside the US markets.
Boston-based Wellington Management, which had US$1.2 trillion in assets under management in 2024, believed the DeepSeek breakthrough would support many industries in China and encourage investors to invest in Chinese stocks, its CEO and managing partner Jean Hynes said at the summit.