Rebound surprises fund managers

The wide disparity in the performance of Asian funds throughout 1999 can be explained by the rapid upturn in the region and the big differences in country performance. The best performance was achieved by those fund managers who pulled out of 1998's best bets - cash, Australia and Hong Kong - and into the most quickly recovering Asian markets. Linda-Jane Coffin, director of Standard & Poor's Fund Services, said: "The substantial rebound in Asian markets during the fourth quarter of 1998 caught a number of funds by surprise and the high cash weightings were slow to be reinvested. "It has...