HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investors in Asia should favour Hong Kong and Singapore shares over higher-growth India and China, given negative news slamming global markets, a senior ING Groep (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) fund executive said on Tuesday.

Investors should also be overweight more defensive utilities, REITs and telecom firms, while limiting exposure to financial stocks outside of Hong Kong and often cyclical industrial and materials shares, added Nicholas Toovey, regional head of equity for ING Investment Management Asia Pacific.

Toovey, who overseas the investment teams operating in the firm’s 13 Asia-Pacific markets, said the group was keeping its portfolios in defensive mode until it saw indications of improvement in the global economic outlook. It managed $117 billion in assets in the region at the end of March.

“The negative news is there for fundamental reasons and these things need to play through, and that’s what we believe is happening as we speak,” he told Reuters in an interview.

“One important global signal would be an increase in activity in the U.S. housing market … and a bottoming of house prices in the U.S.”

Asian stocks as measured by MSCI pan-Asia equity index .MIAS00000PUS dropped 2.2 percent to the lowest since August 2006 on Tuesday, amid investor concerns about the region’s high inflation rate, a stricter lending environment and massive volatility from overseas markets.

The New Zealand-born Toovey said given the turmoil, the fund manager was favouring more developed markets such as Hong Kong.

“We can find a number of defensive investments here, including utility companies … and REITs (real estate investment trusts). The banking sector in Hong Kong is in relatively good shape compared with financial sectors in other places,” he said.

“Singapore is also a market where we can find more defensive stocks.”

He declined to disclose current holdings. But top 10 investments in its ING (L) Invest New Asia LU0051129079.LUF fund at the end of June included Hong Kong’s Link 0823.HK REIT, power utility CLP Holdings Ltd (0002.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd (0001.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (0013.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

The fund has returned 184.30 percent in the five years to June 30, beating a 183.39 percent gain in the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index .MIASJ0000PUS, according to data from Lipper LIPPER, a Thomson Reuters company. It also beat the 162.96 percent return by its peer group as defined by Lipper. Toovey said ING’s fund managers were concerned Chinese companies, many of which have grown accustomed to high growth rates, could come under pressure as the economy slows there. China’s high inflation rate was also a worry, he said.

Inflation is a problem for India as well, which has the added negative of running both budget and current account deficits, he said.

The Hong Kong-based executive spoke after ING released results of a survey that showed its pan-Asia investor sentiment index fell to its lowest level since

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investors in Asia should be overweight in Chinese stocks and underweight India, as China’s hefty financial reserves better equip it to cope with high inflation and slower growth, a DWS fund manager said on Tuesday.

The 255 billion euro mutual fund unit of Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) also sees telecoms as the most attractive sector in the region, but is wary of industrial stocks, especially battered airline shares.

The plunge in Chinese stocks from record highs seen last year has cut their valuations to levels that should help limit downside amid the current financial market turmoil, said Andrew Tan, a lead fund manager with Deutsche’s investment management arm in Singapore.

“Valuations are getting very attractive. So I think that’s actually the basic defence that we have in investing in China right now,” Tan told Reuters in an interview.

The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of Hong Kong-listed Chinese firms dropped 4.7 percent on Tuesday after June data showed growth in the Chinese economy had slowed.

The index, which is more than 43 percent off a record high seen last year, now trades at 17.3 times forward one year price to earnings multiple, according to Thomson Reuters data.

India’s benchmark stock index , which fell 40.2 percent from a record high reached in January, trades at about 16.4 times.

But the hawkish stand of India’s central bank after inflation more than tripled to nearly 12 percent in the last six months, combined with current and capital account deficits, poses a major challenge, said Tan. 

The fund manager, who helps manage about $2 billion in Asian equities, noted China could cool inflation by allowing its currency to strengthen further and afford subsidies to take the sting out of price increases.

Tan was in Hong Kong to help launch the DWS Global Inflation Buster fund, which he will also manage. The new fund will invest in companies DWS thinks will outperform in an environment of rising prices, which the fund manager sees as here to stay.

Tan said the firm is also overweight Taiwan and Thailand, attracted by dividend yields in excess of 5 percent and the potential upside relative to more expensively valued Asian peers.

“These two markets have been dogs in the last three years,” he said.

On a sector basis, Tan said he was overweight and especially bullish on telecom shares. China and India, home to more than a third of the world’s population, were still driving growth in the sector as rural penetration remained low, he said.

“This is one of the few sectors that we see in Asia that you have good visibility of growth,” he said.

“On valuation, in some of the market we are seeing telecom companies providing very stable, sustainable cash yield in excess of 5 percent.”

Tan declined to name holdings. But the top 10 stocks in the Singapore-registered DWS Asia Premier Trust at the end of February included China Mobile Ltd (0941.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and China Telecom Corp Ltd (0728.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

A U.S. dollar version of that fund returned 68.8 percent in the three years to June 30, according to data from Lipper LIPPER, a Thomson Reuters company.

The fund beat the 66.4 percent return by its peer group as defined by Lipper over the same period, but lagged a 70.74 percent gain by the MSCI AC Far East ex-Japan index .MIFEJ0000PUS, according to the fund tracking firm.

Summer may be a time for fireworks and barbecues in America, but halfway across the globe there’s some serious bicycling under way. To celebrate the Tour de France as well as the recent inclusion of Street View in France proper, Google has created a custom Street View map for tracking the entire race route at eye level.

Along for the ride are some of the newer Street View additions like face blurring and the ground filling technology that stitches multiple images together to get rid of noticeable seams. According to Google’s Lat Long blog, the Street View van is also using a higher-quality camera rig, so the images are coming in a little cleaner than usual.

Sharp-eyed Google Maps users will also notice that the little yellow Street View person is now riding a bike (complete with head protection), although there’s no option to fly around like that cool Katsuomi Kobayashi creation we checked out last month. Maybe some enterprising developer can create something fun before the race is over.

Google’s previous forays into organized racing events include the 2008 Olympic torch run, which launched back in April. You can track the torch’s progress, past and present here.

Toyota plans to install solar panels on the roof of the next generation of Prius hybrid cars, according to a report in Monday’s edition of the Nikkei newspaper.

The panels, which are expected to begin appearing on the high-end version of the gasoline-electric hybrid car as early as next spring, will supply part of the 2 to 5 kilowatts needed to power the air conditioning, MarketWatch cited the Japanese business daily as reporting. Kyocera will reportedly supply the panels.

The move would make Toyota the first major automaker to incorporate a solar-power generation system into a mass-produced car.

Prius was introduced in 1997 and has since sold more than 1 million vehicles worldwide. The car was redesigned in 2003, and a third generation has been widely expected to appear soon.

Ben Doveton has been appointed by Aon Risk Services to serve as the firm’s new managing director of Aon Private Clients, which caters to high net worth clients.

Prior to his appointment, Doveton held the post of finance director of Personal and Group Programmes, one of Aon’s major divisions, which focuses its business upon individuals and SMEs.

Doveton is also equipped with a broad range of experience accumulated from the wide variety of management positions he has held in various industries.

The chief executive officer of Personal and Group Programmes, Joanna Caparn, has welcomed Doveton, adding that he is superbly qualified to help the firm exploit its opportunities.

Elsewhere, Rod Mitchell was appointed as Aon Private Clients’ chairman, and as broking director.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) has announced that its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Matthew B. Bartley is to part ways with the firm.

He joined MMC seven years ago as vice president and treasurer, and was named as chief financial officer two years ago.

MMC has commenced its search for a successor, and Bartley has confirmed that he is to stay on to assist the firm manage the transitional period.

Brian Duperreault, MMC’s chief executive officer and president, has praised Bartley’s invaluable contribution to the firm, describing him as instrumental in bolstering both the liquidity and financial strength of MMC.