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Internet & IT
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2000-03-16 20:17:00-05
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Asian Tech Funds likely to be lower in First Quarter
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After spectacular 1999 rise, most Asian tech funds will show declines in first quarter-hold or sell?
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With the first quarter drawing to a close, many Asian tech fund managers are evaluating their portfolios and it is quite apparent that Asian technology funds will not show the spectacular increases they did last year. In fact, most will be down. For example, Jardine Fleming Japan Technology Fund, a star performer in 1999, when it rose 559%, is currently down 13% as of March 10. The Jardine Fleming Eastern Technology Fund, which returned 175% last year, is down 14% since the start of the year. These developments put fund managers in a quandary In the United States, fund managers are moving from purely Internet stocks to companies that make equipment that Net companies require such as networking systems and companies that create content on the Net. In Asia, however, many of the Asian tech plays are large telecommunications companies, computer makers or subsidiaries of conglomerates, all of which have an earnings history unlike many of the Net stocks in the US, which do not. Many fund managers see the downturn as healthy as they feel assured the long-term will show these stocks to be turning up. Other managers see the sales of personal computers on the rise and the first wave of hand-held non-PC devices as pointing toward positive growth in the tech sector. Another group points toward shifting emphasis to telecommunications firms, as the belief is that 'telephone companies will always make money. Who says 'Ma Bell' is gone from our psyche!
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