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Sell HK property stocks on Trump win, says US$13 bil manager

Bloomberg Published on Tue, Sep 13, 2016 / 1:02 PM GMT+8

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(Sept 13): Investors should dump Hong Kong real estate stocks if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November, according to a Dutch pension fund manager who oversees almost US$13.5 billion ($18.3 billion) of property equities globally.

A win for the billionaire real estate mogul could bring about more protectionism and hurt world trade, which would have a significant impact on China and Hong Kong, said Hans Op ’t Veld, head of listed real estate at PGGM. The impact of a victory for the Republican candidate would be as far reaching as the UK’s Brexit vote that caused Japanese real estate stocks to fall, he said.

“The minute Trump gets elected I would worry about Hong Kong, not so much about the US,” said Op ’t Veld. “China is the producer for the world, so you don’t want to be in China” if Trump wins. About 9% of Op ’t Veld’s real-estate holdings are in Hong Kong.