HOLT APAC Opportunities After the Rotation?

Research evidence excerpt

HOLT APAC Opportunities After the Rotation?

Global Research

28 July 2026ab

HOLT APAC Equities

Asia PacificOpportunities After the Rotation?

Hock Leng Ng

HOLT Sector Specialist

The sharp rotation across APAC equities in July has challenged the Momentum-led hockleng.ng@ubs.com

+65-6212 3009

leadership that drove markets higher through the first half of the year, prompting a key

question for investors: is this a temporary reset in crowded winners or the beginning of a Raphael Lee

broader shift in market leadership? Following the July market rotation, HOLT factor HOLT Sector Specialist

performance has shifted decisively away from Momentum, the factor that dominated raphael.lee@ubs.com

+65-6212 3008

market leadership in prior months (link to report). Momentum has been the weakest-

performing HOLT factor in July, while Growth has also lagged. In contrast, Operational

Quality, Valuation and Low Volatility have been relatively resilient, suggesting investors

are rotating away from crowded winners and toward more defensive parts of the

market.

Figure 1: HOLT Factor Performance in July 2026 (top quintile of each factor)

e i

anc

orm

Perf

tor

Fac

HOLT

n July 2 026 (t op quintile h factor)

of eac

Source: UBS HOLT. HOLT APxJ universe with market cap > US$ 3 bn, ex China A-shares. Global-size relative HOLT

Scorecard as of end June 2026. Average price return for the three weeks ending 24 July 2026

Momentum leadership remains highly concentrated, with eight of the ten largest

companies in the top quintile of the HOLT Momentum linked to technology or AI

infrastructure spending (Figure 2TenlargestcompaniesinthetopquintileoftheHOLTMomentumScorecard). Despite the recent correction, HOLT fundamentals for

momentum leaders remain constructive. Companies in the top quintile of the