Mid Wynd trust ditches China over ESG concerns

Concerns Chinese government is "controlling"

The managers of the £452m Mid Wynd International investment trust have ditched almost all their China exposure due to ESG concerns.

The trust, run by Simon Edelsten, Rosanna Burcheri and Alex Illingworth, had a 7.3% exposure to China in October 2020. Today it is less than 1% of the portfolio. "The bulk of our exposure was to e-commerce site Alibaba, the multi-media conglomerate, Tencent, and JD.com, which is another Amazon-like company," said Edelsten. "We sold all of them after the Chinese government called off the $37bn IPO of Ant Group. "It was an indication to us that Beijing was examining these kinds of businesses with a crystal eye." Sustainable Investment Special Report: How should investors approach Chi...