A cheap play on Chinese demand

A lack of reliable data makes valuing Asian markets notoriously difficult. And without knowing what's cheap and what's not, it becomes impossible to make sensible investment decisions. Cris Sholto Heaton works out the best way to spot value in Asia, and tips one cheap way to tap in to Chinese demand.

Valuing Asia is difficult because we don't have a lot of history to work with. But we have to try we can't invest without some idea of what's cheap.

So today I'm going to look at one way of doing so. It has the advantage of using what little information we have. And it gets around some of the problems with the price/earnings (p/e) ratio.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.