Steven Chiu

The speaker explicitly stated the Singapore dollar and Hong Kong dollar "will always play a safe haven role" and that these two, along with the Chinese yuan, are "the best picks" in Asia, while advising to "stay away from" other Asian currencies. The Iran war is causing risk aversion and high energy prices, which disproportionately hurt Asian economies that are major oil importers. Currencies with safe-haven attributes, tightening biases, or managed stability are expected to outperform. Therefore, a long position on SGD, HKD, and CNY is favored relative to other Asian currencies in the current environment. A swift resolution to the Iran war and a sharp decline in energy prices would reduce risk aversion and the safe-haven premium, diminishing the relative advantage of these currencies.