Hong Kong Tycoon Placing Less Reliance on China
Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing has been trimming his reliance on the China market. Prof. Woody Wu and Prof. Joseph Fan shared their viewpoints in an interview with The Wall Street Journal from the angles of investment strategy and business succession respectively.
As investors around the world fret over China’s economic tremors, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing has been quietly accelerating moves to cut his reliance on the world’s second-largest economy.
Li, nicknamed “Superman” in Hong Kong for the business acumen that made him one of Asia’s richest men, has been trimming his property portfolio in China since 2011. He has also sold parts of his ports and retail holdings in Hong Kong, which is a conduit for China’s international trade and finance.
As global markets stumble on concerns over China’s slowing economy, falling stock prices and a sudden devaluation in the Chinese currency, Li’s moves appear prescient, cementing his status among investors as an oracle. Company insiders and academics who have been observing Li’s moves, however, say that the tycoon was also motivated by a weak euro that made European assets offering steady returns cheaper relative to China.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Woody Wu, Professor of School of Accountancy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School says “what Li really excels at is the timing of his selling,” adding that “he sells as long as the price is right. He’s a genius when it comes to finance.”
Other potential motives attributed by company insiders and academics for Li’s step back range from the possible souring of his relations with the nation’s power brokers, to the tycoon preparing to hand over the business reins to his eldest son, Victor Li.
Prof. Joseph Fan, Professor of School of Accountancy and Department of Finance and Co-director of the Centre for Economics and Finance at CUHK Business School also says in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that “the more important reason why Li is moving away from China is that his influence there is dissipating.”… Read More (PDF)
Source: Dow Jones Newswire / The Wall Street Journal
Date published: 9 September, 2015
Photo: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES