Big Asia stock funds turn to laggards to cut risk from AI swings

Published Sat, Jul 25, 2026 · 02:05 PM

[HONG KONG] Investors in Asia are snapping up stocks from Indonesian banks to Chinese e-commerce titans and Indian technology firms, trimming bets on popular artificial intelligence trades which have turned increasingly volatile.

Fidelity International and BNP Paribas Asset Management are among those reducing exposure to Korean equities and semiconductors to add wagers on Chinese companies. Similarly, M&G Investments has cut holdings in Taiwan while Eastspring Investments has rotated into laggards including India.

As a result, South-east Asian stocks are on track for their best monthly performance against broader Asian peers in 24 years, with Indonesia one of the world’s top performers in July. Meanwhile, India is among regional markets that have drawn the most foreign inflows this month.

The reshuffle highlights growing caution among investors on the AI trade, which in Asia has been characterised by wild swings in markets such as South Korea.

Even as global chip stocks staged a partial recovery from a rout earlier this month, nagging concerns about firms’ ability to monetise the revolutionary technology has led more fund managers to seek opportunities in defensive sectors from banks to consumer goods, as well as underperformers including China’s Internet giants.

“The extreme volatility you’re seeing in Korea and to a lesser extent Taiwan has made it a little bit more difficult to buy the dip,” said Ian Samson, a portfolio manager at Fidelity. “The volatility means that from a portfolio construction perspective, we have to be careful about buying too aggressively.”

Like Fidelity, Citigroup also recently cut Korean stocks and upgraded their Chinese peers in its emerging market allocation, citing volatile trading in Korea and the potential for China to benefit as the local rally broadens beyond a narrow group of AI winners.

Korean shares have slumped more than 21 per cent this month, while Taiwan’s have fallen over 5 per cent, with overseas investors pulling about US$4.4 billion and US$19 billion from Korean and Taiwanese equities, respectively. 

“Kospi VIX remains super elevated and waiting for the leverage holdings to wash out,” said Matthew Haupt, a hedge fund manager at Wilson Asset Management, referring to the volatility gauge tracking Korea’s equities benchmark. “There are more stable markets to trade themes rather than Korea at the moment.”

By contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is set for its biggest monthly outperformance ever against Korea’s Kospi gauge, boosted by catch-up gains in Chinese internet giants and banks.  

Elsewhere in the region, the MSCI Asean Index has climbed 5.8 per cent this month, versus a near 4 per cent decline in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, putting it on pace for the biggest monthly outperformance in more than two decades.

Leading the South-east Asian pack, Thai stocks have surged around 30 per cent this year on bets that the country’s current government will bring an end to years of political turbulence. In Indonesia, banks have rallied following a surprise central bank rate hike. 

Meanwhile, India has received about US$2 billion of global fund inflows into its equities market so far this month, making it one of the top destinations in the region. Beaten-down shares of the country’s information technology firms HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services have rallied about 18 per cent and 11 per cent in July, respectively.

To some investors, the rotation may be tentative due to longer-term optimism about AI demand and earnings growth. A renewed surge in oil prices also threatens the momentum of energy-dependent markets such as South-east Asia and India.

“We have been trimming Korea exposure progressively over the last couple of weeks as risk/reward became increasingly asymmetric at these levels – though this is tactical rebalancing rather than a structural exit,” said Yi Ling Ong, managing partner at Golden Horse Fund Management.

For one, Alphabet’s plans to spend up to US$200 billion this year on AI computing power offered a brief boost to hardware stocks, before a sell-off resumed on Friday. 

Next week, concern around AI spending will face a new test when Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Apple report their quarterly earnings. Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta have forecast as much as US$725 billion in capital expenditures this calendar year, and Wall Street expects that figure to climb to nearly US$900 billion in 2027, according to the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. 

But for now, the persistent worry that the AI rally has run too far, too fast remains a key driver of less glamorous stocks that offer steadier returns and stronger earnings clarity. 

“It’s just the uncertainty, unpredictability of this volatility,” said John Tsai, portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments, adding that the next leg of rotation will hinge on “results from the big US tech companies and their longer-term capex guidance”. BLOOMBERG