Jenny Johnson, president and chief executive officer at global investment management firm Franklin Templeton has said that the idea that Chinese investment opportunities have come to an end is probably overhyped.

Speaking  at a session at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore she said, “There is a lot of pessimism built into the pricing.” 

She went on, “You are talking about the second-largest economy. You are talking about an economy that generates more engineers than any other any country in the world every year, and so from innovation I think there is going to be opportunities.”

Johnson, who is known for leading the firm’s 2020 acquisition of Legg Mason, which produced a combined organization which holds $1.5 trillion in assets, sees China displaying an increased desire for more independence in energy and food security.

She said, “You’re probably not going to time it exactly right, it could bump a lot of for a while, but when it gets right it is going to be a rubber band back up.” 

Johnson made the comments as China’s faltering economic recovery, and increasing geopolitical tension with the West have given global investors less of an appetite for Chinese investments.

In August, when US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited China, she noted that US companies have begun complaining that the nation has become uninvestable due to fines, raids, and other actions which make business in China now too risky to invest in.

Johnson also said she sees real opportunities in private credit and secondary private equities globally.

She said, “I think it’s underappreciated as investment opportunity. You have lots of LPs out there who are overcommitted and have capital calls and they have to sell at discount.”