Weak global economy forcing Asia's policymakers to push ahead with structural reforms

Investment activity is lower

For a change, the Asian region, and more specifically the Chinese economy, has not been driving increased uncertainty over the global economic landscape.

In Asia, household wealth creation has been a major theme for two decades, particularly in China. We have seen personal wealth grow uninterrupted since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The rate might have accelerated or decelerated, but we do not see the trend being altered. This growing middle class is an increasingly important driver of business activity in the region, and has been a source of new ideas for the portfolio. For the past two to three years, consumption has supported domestic demand, while investment activity has been grinding lower across many parts of Asia. What ha...