China’s equity rout a few weeks ago was exacerbated by quantitative funds stampeding to exit positions, akin to a 2007 episode in the US when such investors suffered an abrupt meltdown that roiled markets. That’s the analysis of Man Group’s Ziang Fang, who said in a note this week that the unwinding of these funds’ positions was so massive that it spurred small-cap stocks to underperform by a historic margin. China’s intervention to stem the turmoil also caused significant market dislocations, compounding the losses for these funds, according to Fang, a portfolio manager at the world’s largest publicly listed hedge ... (full story)