Asia: 1986 vs 2016

Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA celebrates 30 years since the firm’s founding with a colorful and insightful edition of its Bits & pieces research report. In it, we get this look at how much Asia has changed between 1986 and today:

A lot has changed since. For example, in 1986:

• China’s nominal GDP was USD298 bn (it’s now USD10,800 bn- a 36 fold rise)

• The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was yet to commence (it did so on Dec 31, 1987)

• Of the current top 20 stocks by mkt cap in the region only 2 were then listed (Samsung Elec and HSBC)

• Sa m sung Electronic’s share price was then KRW10, 172 (today it is KRW1,536,000- a 150 “bagger”)

• TSMC was still a year away from being founded (and 8 years from being listed)

• The Hang Seng Index was 1,925 on 18 Sept 1986 (it is now 23,215)

• Ferdinand Marcos and Pres Suharto were still ruling The Philippines and Indonesia

• The RMB/USD exchange rate was 3.73 (before a world changing move above 8.00 several years later)

• There were only 680,000 cellphone subscribers in the U.S- far less in Asia (there are now; of course, billions)

• Ronald Reagan was President of the U.S and Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the U.K

• Hyundai Motor sold its first car in the U.S as South Korea was preparing for the 1988 Seoul Olympics

• Hong Kong was still11 years away from Handover and the Tiananmen square protest 3 years away

• The population of India was 800 miJiion (it is now 1,340 million or two-thirds greater)

• Ma Huateng, the eo-founder and CEO of Asia’s largest company by mkt cap today (Tencent) was 15 years old

• Taiwan’s TWSE index was 3,800 but rallied to >12,000 over the following 3 years (it is still yet to surpass that level)

• North Korea’s economy was a wasteland (it still is)

• Singapore’s total land area was 621 sq kms (it’s now 720 sq kms or 16% larger- reclaimed land for ports, airports, etc)

• Cathay Pacific was yet to commence commercial flights to the U.S (a 747 could not reach it directly)

• The GDP per capita for The Philippines was USD535 (it is now USD2,900 despite and almost doubling in people to lOOm)

Source:

Bits & pieces
CLSA – 15 September 2016