For someone who doesn't have too much in China, Magellan Group's head of research and portfolio manager, Nikki Thomas, spends a lot of time thinking about the world's fastest-growing economy.

Thomas sits on the investment committee at Magellan, which is run by funds management legend Hamish Douglass. She is responsible for filtering the ideas that determine how the firm will allocate the $38 billion it invests on behalf of mostly Australian individuals in its highly concentrated portfolio of just 26 stocks.