PCFM says Tencent still attractive
Australia’s Premium China Funds Management (PCFM) has said Tencent, a Chinese technology giant, is still attractive for investors as the company develops a healthcare offering.
According to PCFM executive director, Jonathan Wu, the company represented a continued growth investment for investors due to its “willingness to cross boundaries”.
Wu said that an example of that was the way in which the firm has pushed into the Chinese public health sector with an application called ‘Tencent Health’. This was undergoing testing on messaging application WeChat, made e-health services available to users including medication delivery and could be adapted to meet the needs of other public health systems.
“The launch of Tencent Health’ was not just important because of its commercial potential for the company but, from an investor’s point of view, because it signalled Tencent’s increasing focus on what was becoming known as the ‘industrial internet’ – to deal with industries as well as consumers,” Wu said.
“PCFM was one of the earliest investors in Tencent and while our allocations have varied over time, they reflect our on-the-ground analysis of what the company is doing and what that means in terms of its ongoing growth potential and return on investment.
“We think Tencent Health represents an important indicator of the company’s willingness to leverage its scale to broaden its product offering to meet the needs of growth sectors such as public health and education”.
The company said its view of Tencent was reflected in its allocations towards the Chinese tech company which was the seventh-largest holding in the Premium Asia Fund with 5.4 per cent in Tencent (HK listed) and 2.4 per cent in Tencent Music Entertainment (US listed). It also held the company in its Premium China Fund.
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