Fidelity China plummets after 'brutal period for Asian markets'

Fidelity China, the vehicle for investment guru Anthony Bolton has seen its net asset value plummet by 28.4% as his big bet on the far east has failed spectacularly during the last six months.

The performance is worse than the benchmark MSCI China Index which fell 24.5%.

Bolton himself apologises for the results, which have seen the company's share price drop 27% in the last six months and says: "The few weeks leading up to the end of September have been a brutal period for Asian markets - as difficult a time to be running money as I can remember."

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Trying explain the extreme falls in value he argues simply that negative commentary surrounding China is partly to blame although it is allied to more concrete concerns over property and unofficial lending markets.

Bolton admits he has been "wrong" in his judgements recently but remains defiant over the long term:

"The most important reason that I remain optimistic about stock markets is my contrarian nature. At the beginning of October sentiment became about as

negative as I've seen it. However, valuations are very attractive versus history and Hong Kong directors' purchases of shares are the second highest they've been in the last 11 years. Everywhere risk is off. Markets normally move to prove the majority wrong."

In early trading this morning Fidelity China was trading 0.77% up at 78.60p implying the news wasn't as bad as some had feared.

BS