Philippines Is Turning Heads; Average Weighting by Fund Managers Rises as Economy Improves
Hong Kong -- THE PHILIPPINES' improved fiscal position is getting international fund managers excited again about a market that has been their least favored during the past seven years.</br></br>International fund managers surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires have raised the Philippines and the U.S. to their most bullish levels in years among several key changes to their recommended portfolio weightings in September. They also have raised their weighting for Indonesianshares but have downgraded markets in China, Malaysia and Australia.</br></br>The bloodless military coup that overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hasn't affected the consensus "neutral" weighting for Thailand, unchanged for a third straight month.</br></br>In terms of overall asset allocations, fund managers have lifted their stance on stocks, which have regained the confidence lost when investors became preoccupied with concerns about a U.S.-led global economic slowdown at the start of the second quarter.</br></br>Even though fund managers on average suggest a neutral stance in the Philippines within an Asian-Pacific stocks portfolio, that recommendation is the highest since September 1999, when Philippine shares were a "full overweight." Since then, fund managers have recommended varying degrees of being underweight in Philippine shares, mainly because of a fiscal deficit and political concerns.