One Asian stock market you should avoid

Most Asian economies are relatively healthy in terms of debt and savings. But there is one country which is structured along dangerously 'Western' lines, and whose prospects for recovery hold up badly with its peers. Cris Sholto Heaton examines what the future may hold for Korea.

First, my apologies for not being able to bring you a MoneyWeek Asia last Monday, which was down to an unfortunate combination of illness and Monday's bad weather.

This week, as the sick man of MoneyWeek, I'm going to talk about the sick man of Asia. No, it's not Japan (although it did fill that role for many years), but another country which is at growing risk of being the regional laggard over the next few years.

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China (CSI 300)2,237+10.1%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng)13,655+2.8%
India (Sensex)9,301+1.3%
Indonesia (JCI)1,351+1.4%
Japan (Topix)791-0.4%
Malaysia (KLCI)897+1.4%
Philippines (PSEi)1,942+6.4%
Singapore (Straits Times)1,715-1.8%
South Korea (KOSPI)1,210+4.1%
Taiwan (Taiex)4,471+5.3%
Thailand (SET)444+1.5%
Vietnam (VN Index)282-7.1%
MSCI Asia77-0.1%
MSCI Asia ex-Japan280+3.0%
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.