CHINA’S stock market isn’t bottoming out just yet, judging by the holdings of a fund that’s made a 618 percent return since it started in 2008.

Beijing Longrising Asset Management Co., an equity-focused fund manager that oversees about 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion), has 10 billion yuan of that in cash. The fund’s top executives are worried about China’s economic outlook and the trade conflict with the United States, and expect that the extremely bearish sentiment toward equities may take years to recover.

“There are too many uncertainties in the economy, even though a lot of stocks are starting to look attractive at these prices,” said Zeng Xiaojie, general manager at Longrising. “We plan to keep our market exposure at a moderate to relatively low level for a while.”

Longrising illustrates the depth of pessimism among China’s domestic asset managers, saddled with trying to find winners in the world’s worst-performing major equity market. Turnover is dwindling, suggesting little appetite to buy even with shares at the lowest valuations since 2014.

Longrising’s Stock Selection Fund, the firm’s flagship strategy, has returned 618 percent since its July 2008 inception, according to data from Shenzhen PaiPaiWang Investment & Management Co. These products are open only to institutions and wealthy individuals, those deemed sophisticated enough to invest in products governed by looser rules. (SD-Agencies)