China and India need to be assessed as two separate economies and markets due to vast differences in their characteristics, according to Fidelity chief investment officer Asia Pacific John Ford.
China’s fast-moving culture and centralised government have swiftly expanded the middle class, Ford said.
“Anything that plays into that kind of theme and which you can find at a reasonable price and which has decent corporate governance – which is not something you can always take for granted in China – is interesting,” he said.
Ford added potential investors in China have to work hard to keep up with potential opportunities.
However, he noted India’s pace is different.
“There are lots of exciting things going on but you don’t get that sense of energy and naked commercialism that you get in China,” Ford said.
“They don’t have the inconvenience of a democracy [in China], which allows them just to push on and deal with issues. You really feel that.”
And while the US government estimates India’s middle class will grow ten-fold by 2025 its bureaucracy is currently notorious for slowing an otherwise entrepreneurial culture.
“India is very much its own case and needs to be treated as such,” Ford said.
“In China, you can say, ‘the consumer is an interesting story to work within’. In India, it really is much more the case that you’re not looking at sectors. You really are looking at it stock by stock.”
