Report
Michael Howell

Global View Why Asia Really Is Different This Time May 2018

Why Asia Really Is Different This Time

There is an ever more distinct Asian financial cycle. Structural economic changes are altering the shape of the World economy, largely, in recognition of China's increasingly dominant role. Policy-makers are responding. We do not mean by this the latest reactive moves by US President Trump, rather the longer-term strategic adjustments being implemented by Asian regional policy-makers. Foremost are the implied shift by Japan towards Yen-targeting and the suggestion that China has stopped building forex reserves. If we are correct, these moves prospectively represent the biggest policy changes in Asia for three-decades.
Provider
CrossBorder Capital
CrossBorder Capital

​​CrossBorder Capital Ltd (CrossBorder) is a London based, FCA registered, independent investment firm founded in 1996. It is owned by its partners and has no affiliations with banks, stockbrokers or other financial institutions.

CrossBorder's core competence is the measurement and analysis of global liquidity flows. Liquidity is a source of funds, in contrast to money which is a use of funds. It is defined as the flow of cash plus credit, or more explicitly as savings plus the change in base money plus the change in bank credit. Liquidity is therefore a more comprehensive measurement of fund flows than the monetary aggregates used traditionally. Liquidity research is applied to determining the outlook for a range of asset classes including equities, fixed income, currencies and hedge fund styles over varying time horizons.

Central to this analysis is the monthly collection and analysis of balance sheet data from over seventy of the world's central banks to quantify the level and direction of liquidity in each country. This data is publicly available, aggregate as opposed to sample, and rarely significantly revised. It is also little used by investors, and CrossBorder's prime utility is bringing this set of data to investors in a timely and user-friendly way.

CrossBorder's insights rest on two philosophical assertions: first, there is a regular cycle of liquidity, and asset class price movements tend to move sequentially over the cycle. By measuring where we are on it, we can significantly reduce 'fat tail' outcomes in our predictions for asset price movements. Secondly, weightings of asset classes held by investors in aggregate tend to revert to the long term mean. By measuring the variance from this mean, we can understand whether a particular trade is 'crowded' or the reverse.

CrossBorder offers these insights both as the Liquidity Research research service, and in the form of systematically allocated in-house funds. Clients of the Liquidity Research service include leading banks, fund managers (both traditional and hedge) and insurance companies located worldwide. CrossBorder additionally manages and advises on tactical asset allocation products for third parties.

Analysts
Michael Howell

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