Key Takeaways
- • Aspex Management, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund with roughly $14 billion in assets focused on pan-Asian equities, lost about 16% in October, according to a person with knowledge of the matter cited by Reuters.
- • The loss came amid a selloff in AI-linked stocks, with investors dumping names from chipmakers to hyperscalers over doubts about whether heavy sector investment will generate sufficient returns.
- • Despite the October drawdown, Aspex remains up 9% year-to-date through October, per the same source.
- • Asia was the worst-performing region among equity long-short hedge funds tracked by Goldman Sachs in October, with Asian stock pickers down 8.3% on average versus a 2.5% global decline.
Summary
Aspex Management posted a loss of about 16% in October when a selloff in AI-linked stocks rattled global markets, according to a person with knowledge of the matter cited by Reuters. The Hong Kong-based fund, which manages about $14 billion and is focused on pan-Asian equities, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The source described the October decline as one of the fund's biggest monthly drawdowns, though the fund is still up 9% for the year through October.
The losses reflected a broad rout in technology shares. During October, investors sold AI-related stocks, from chipmakers to hyperscale cloud providers, amid growing skepticism about whether the sector's massive investments will generate adequate returns. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5%. In Asia, Korea's tech-heavy KOSPI dropped 16% and Taiwanese benchmarks lost 6%, while the Star 50 index, a gauge of China's high-tech firms, slumped 24%.
Reuters reported that the selloff gained momentum in November after Democratic wins in the US midterm elections raised fears of tighter regulatory scrutiny of the industry. Against this backdrop, Asia was the worst-performing region last month among equity long-short hedge funds tracked by Goldman Sachs, with Asian stock pickers falling 8.3% on average.
Aspex, founded by former Och-Ziff Capital Management Asia equities head Hermes Li, has been an active cornerstone investor in Hong Kong listings this year. The firm was among the backers of AI startup MiniMax and optical transceiver maker Zhongji Innolight.
The losses reflected a broad rout in technology shares. During October, investors sold AI-related stocks, from chipmakers to hyperscale cloud providers, amid growing skepticism about whether the sector's massive investments will generate adequate returns. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5%. In Asia, Korea's tech-heavy KOSPI dropped 16% and Taiwanese benchmarks lost 6%, while the Star 50 index, a gauge of China's high-tech firms, slumped 24%.
Reuters reported that the selloff gained momentum in November after Democratic wins in the US midterm elections raised fears of tighter regulatory scrutiny of the industry. Against this backdrop, Asia was the worst-performing region last month among equity long-short hedge funds tracked by Goldman Sachs, with Asian stock pickers falling 8.3% on average.
Aspex, founded by former Och-Ziff Capital Management Asia equities head Hermes Li, has been an active cornerstone investor in Hong Kong listings this year. The firm was among the backers of AI startup MiniMax and optical transceiver maker Zhongji Innolight.
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