Fidelity International says fund sales surged on interest rate cuts, China market rally

Lower interest rates and a rally in China stocks have helped drive sales of investment fund products offered by Fidelity International, a senior executive said.

“Following [the People’s Bank of China’s] stimulus package, China’s stock markets have been performing strongly, and we believe there is some room to grow,” said Charlotte Chan, the head of Fidelity’s Hong Kong office, in an interview. “Together with the Fed’s rate cutting cycle, this motivates investors to look at their allocations, especially those who have been parking cash on the sidelines.”

In the first nine months of 2024, Fidelity’s sales of retail funds in Hong Kong doubled from a year earlier, Chan said.

“As many investors in the first half of this year had expected interest rates to go down, they have increased their risk appetite in their investments,” she said.

“We have seen many of them have shifted from cash to investing in long-term bonds to capture the opportunities from an interest-rate cut. Some of them have also started to pick up stock funds.”