This podcast episode explores the performance of Asian equity markets in the first quarter of 2019, highlighting the wide dispersion in returns. Japan's Nikkei index has surged 16%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has declined 2%. The podcast hosts express their conviction in multi-year secular bull markets in Japan and India, and a secular bear market in China. They attribute Japan's strong performance to improving return on equity (ROE), driven by domestic reflation, a weaker yen, and improved capital management. The speakers also discuss the challenges faced by China, such as debt, demographics, and deflation, leading to declining profitability and missed earnings. They provide an outlook on the Asia-Pacific market, focusing on Japan, India, and China, and share their sector and style views.
