23 March 2026
The annual meeting of Chinese mainland’s National People’s Congress (NPC) is concluding this week. The China equity team shares its latest views on key policy developments and analyses the main growth engines supporting high‑quality growth.
In terms of fiscal and monetary policies, the announcement for the Chinese mainland’s 15th Five-Year Plan is largely in line with our expectations. Despite a lower GDP growth target (between 4.5%-5%), the Chinese mainland has been very proactive in rolling out fiscal policies since the beginning of 2026 – e.g., announcing infrastructure projects and consumption programs year-to-date. Also, the Chinese mainland is looking to boost domestic demand, with a keen focus on domestic consumption, technology advancement and advanced manufacturing.
Global tech and semiconductors: what’s been driving returns and what to watch next
Semiconductors have been one of the strongest parts of global equity markets so far in 2026, with performance supported by a powerful mix of demand and improving fundamentals. The headlines have focused on artificial intelligence (AI), but the opportunity set is broader than a single theme or a handful of companies. As AI infrastructure expands, it is driving investment not only in high-performance computing chips, but also in the networking and power technologies that keep modern data centres running. At the same time, parts of the industry outside AI are showing early signs of stabilisation and recovery.
Global Multi Asset Diversified Income Fund (GMADI) update amid recent Middle East developments
Global markets turned to a risk off mode in March 2026 as rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East eclipsed earlier optimism about growth and policy support. Equity and fixed-income markets declined as energy price shocks and uncertainty weighed on investor confidence. However, the diversified portfolio construction and income generation focus supported the Manulife Global Fund – Global Multi Asset Diversified Income Fund (“GMADI” or “the Fund”) in delivering relatively resilient performance ( 4%) .
The real asset renaissance: securing power, materials, and energy in a deglobalized world
Global supply chains are being reshaped by deglobalisation, geopolitics, and the race for energy and technological security, shifting the focus from efficiency toward resilience. In this environment of higher costs, persistent inflation pressures, and constrained supply, real assets may play an increasingly important role in helping investors navigate uncertainty and capture long‑term structural trends.
Not another bubble: How semiconductors are powering a real future
Semiconductors sit behind almost every modern experience – from smartphones and cars to cloud computing and today’s AI tools – yet they remain largely invisible to most people. They are more than chips only, and the demand is being supported by several long-term forces. We believe that today’s semiconductor excitement is not a repeat of the dot-com bubble, as investment is tied to real infrastructure and revenue-generating services. And the opportunity is broader than a handful of headline AI names.
Global Equity Diversified Income (GEDI) strategy update: Risks and opportunities
In early April, developments in the Middle East showed signs of stabilisation, prompting a partial recovery and renewed risk-taking in equity markets. However, beyond ongoing geopolitical risks, other factors—including potential private credit contagion across banks and broader financials—continue to pose downside risks. Despite these uncertainties, we believe an income centric approach, combined with global diversification across growth, value and income equities, has provided both downside resilience and upside participation for the Global Equities Diversified Income (GEDI) strategy.
Global tech and semiconductors: what’s been driving returns and what to watch next
Semiconductors have been one of the strongest parts of global equity markets so far in 2026, with performance supported by a powerful mix of demand and improving fundamentals. The headlines have focused on artificial intelligence (AI), but the opportunity set is broader than a single theme or a handful of companies. As AI infrastructure expands, it is driving investment not only in high-performance computing chips, but also in the networking and power technologies that keep modern data centres running. At the same time, parts of the industry outside AI are showing early signs of stabilisation and recovery.
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