China To Be Dominant Superpower In Five Years

Online, January 10, 2013 (Newswire.com) - In its Olympic year, 46% of investors think China will achieve global superpower status within five
years, with only 28% backing the US. India came third at 16% and Russia last at 10%.

Although economically very optimistic and bullish on the long term, expatriate and international
investors remain cautious with their short-term exposures in Asia. Positive sentiment towards
Chinese equities rose dramatically in 2008, up from 42% in 2007 to 68%, but this did not result in
a commensurate rise in investment. Despite this optimism, the number of investors exposed to
China remains far lower at 36%. Indian equities also scored highly, with 69% positive, but again
exposure is even lower at 24%.

Investors are optimistic about Asia's economic prospects. 64% of respondents are positive and
only 7 % negative about both China and India, and 52% are positive about Hong Kong, with 7%
negative. However, figures coincide with a rise in concerns over Asian market volatility, up threefold since 2007 to 25%, and corporate governance, which doubled (to 27%) in under a year.

This, despite fewer investors citing lack of knowledge about the Asian markets as a reason for
non-exposure (35% falling to 28%), says Haffkin-Roth General Manager Seung Chang-uk: "Investors are very confident about Asian markets on a macroeconomic level but they feel disconnected from them. They see the promise of markets that will inevitably be integrated into the global financial system and be fully open up to foreign liquidity, but they are too put off by their sudden peaks and troughs. The combination of volatility and uncertainty are a disincentive to invest. Consequently, investors have become far more cautious about Asian markets than they were in the last 10 years".

Sentiment towards UK equities became more polarized than in any previous survey, with far more
optimists (45% today up from 14%) and far more pessimists (36% today from 16%). Less than one in three are optimistic about the UK's economic prospects as a whole. "Investors fall into two camps, those that thrive on market volatility, and those with a more cautious approach, hence the current climate seems to benefit some and concern others".

Positive sentiment towards European equities improved from 22% in 2007 to 50% today, though
negatives also rose from 11% to 27%. Twice as many investors are positive about Europe's economic prospects, with 28% positive v 15% negative.

About half the sample is positive about Middle East equities (44%) and US equities attracted the
most negative sentiment at 71%. Investors also fear the adverse effect of the USA's economic
problems on China.

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