Liu Yang When Liu Yang, now the most successful female fund manager in China, said in 2001 that China will become an important market for institutional investors, few people took her words seriously.Today, with more than $3 billion under her management, the chairman of Atlantis Investment Management (HK) Ltd justified her prediction in that economic trend as well as her personal judgment on selecting stocks.
This outspoken woman often surprises people by her extravagant lifestyle as well as her blunt remarks. Her Rolls Royce has a plate of 88888 and she often rewards herself with jade articles when she makes money. She once declared that "My favorite thing is making money and I just enjoy the feeling of making money. I made a lot of money for other people and that makes me extremely happy."
What is as sharp as Liu Yang's words is her sense for investing. Liu established her name in 2003. When the SARS outbreak scared away fund managers and drove down the stock market, she bottom-fished and later cashed in on a stunning 93 percent rate of return.
Her career as a fund manager at Atlantis flourished with China's stock markets. Liu's flagship fund, Atlantis China Fund, which was founded in 2003, has seen its profits grow more than five-fold. She also manages Atlantis New China Fortune Fund, Atlantis China Healthcare Fund and Atlantis China Star Fund.
Career path
Liu Yang's childhood love for literature and poetry had her longing to become a foreign language major, but she later was accepted by the Central University of Finance and majored in international finance.
Upon graduation in 1988, Liu joined CITIC Group in Beijing, and in 1993 she was sent by CITIC Group to Australia to be the CIO and fund manager of the CMG CH China Fund (later renamed New Era PRC Fund).
Then, after a brief stay at First State Investment Management (HK), Liu Yang joined Atlantis in 2002 and began her extremely successful career as a fund manager there.
Atlantis Investment Management, based in London, is an investment boutique that specializes in managing Asian equity strategies for global institutional investors. Liu Yang is responsible for its China business.
Back in 2001, Atlantis tried to convince Liu Yang, who just arrived at Hong Kong, to join the company and lead its China business since Liu's career track had impressed the company long before. Liu, who was pregnant then, asked Atlantis to wait for her for one year and Atlantis agreed.
Liu quickly proved her value to the employer. The capital under her management increased from tens of millions of US dollar to billions. "During the seven years (in Atlantis), only for five months I did not outperform the market, that was during the 2008 global financial crisis." Liu Yang said.
Female Buffett
People like to compare Liu Yang to Warren Buffett, the famous US billionaire and investor, but Liu herself has a different opinion.
"Valuation in the US totally differs from that in China. The two countries' institutions, financial systems and banking models are also different, so I can not copy his investment philosophy here in China, otherwise making money would be so easy," Liu told reporters.
She remains optimistic about China's economic development and investment opportunity, saying that the country's economy has just "taken off."
Liu Yang is good at selecting small-cap stocks. Her preferred industries are insurance, medicine, commodity, retail and real estate. Her key to picking stocks is to thoroughly study government policies and get a good understanding of one particular enterprise. Once she visited an enterprises eight times before deciding to invest in it.
