Post by Haichu Yang

Dear Network, As the Lunar New Year approaches, I extend my heartfelt greetings to each of you, wishing you joy, well-being, and prosperity. Celebrated across Asia, the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year, holds paramount importance. I hope everyone can take a moment to enjoy this festive season, bidding farewell to the Year of the Rabbit and welcoming the Year of the Dragon. Reflecting on my time spent in London for over a year, I find that being a first-year student in Accounting and Finance at KCL has significantly deepened my passion for Investment Portfolio Management, Wealth Management, and Asset Management. I firmly believe in the effectiveness of acquiring new knowledge through a blend of real-life market exposure and theoretical study. In line with this belief, I have developed my investment portfolio at China Merchants Bank, incorporating a mix of sector mutual funds and index funds to create a Fund of Funds (FOF). I began building my portfolio at 18, the minimum age allowed by Mainland China law for market entry, demonstrating my early dedication to mastering the complexities of investment strategies. To briefly introduce my investment portfolio: Portfolio Value: Starting with an estimated value of £60,000 as of February 7, 2023, I methodically invested an additional £40,000 over the course of 2023, culminating in a final portfolio value of approximately £100,000. Portfolio Currency and Geographical Regions Invested: Investments were made in CNY (Onshore Renminbi), covering regions of Mainland China and Hong Kong. Portfolio Composition and Risk Appetite: The portfolio comprises 45% in Equity (approximately 37.5% in China A-shares and 7.5% in Hong Kong Hang Seng Equity), 40% in Bonds (including Government Bonds, Investment-grade bonds, and Debentures), 10% in Gold (Paper Gold, in Yuan Currency), and 5% in FX (mainly GBP and JPY). My risk appetite is graded R5, with R1 denoting the minimum risk and R5 representing the maximum risk tolerance. The risk of this portfolio is around R4. Portfolio Performance and Benchmark Index (Wind Equity-Focused Hybrid Fund Index): From February 7, 2023, to February 7, 2024, my portfolio experienced a yield of negative 5.13%. Compared to the Wind Equity-Focused Hybrid Fund Index (the "Wind Index"), which saw a loss of 27.42%, my portfolio achieved an alpha of 22.29% over the Wind Index. Additionally, compared to the CSI300 Index, it yielded an alpha of 5.38%. Alpha Sources: In hindsight, the main sources of alpha revenue came from three areas. The first source was paper gold, benefiting from the Yuan's depreciation against the USD, from USDCNY 6.8 to USDCNY 7.2 over the last year, marking nearly a 6% fall in its value. This, coupled with the upward trend in gold prices and separate automated investments (due to the volatile gold price in the second half of 2023) made when the gold price fell below 1825 in the latter part of the year, generated additional revenue. Limited Length