As positive sentiment mounts around the prospects for Asia in a post-credit crunch world, investor interest in Asia Pacific (ex Japan) funds continues to gain momentum.
Recent figures released by Cofunds, the UK's biggest investment platform, confirm a significant rise in the net sales of funds focused on investment opportunities in this region, and Michelle Woodburn, business development manager at Cofunds, says if there is one fund which dominates investor choice in this sector, it is the First State Asia Pacific Leaders Fund.
"First State's offering continues to dominate within the emerging markets arena, with flows into the Asia Pacific Leaders fund increasing significantly in the second quarter of this year - placing it among the top 10 funds in terms of net sales," says Ms Woodburn.
The fund, which aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in large and mid-cap equities in the Asia Pacific region, including Australasia, lagged the recent bounce in markets, but Alistair Thompson, who has managed the fund since its launch in December 1993, says the fund will always tail sharp bounces due to its investment focus. "We invest with an absolute return mindset, which means that our interpretation of avoiding risk is not to lose clients' money and not being overweight or underweight in any index or benchmark," says Mr Thompson.
The two managers are bottom up investors and seek out good quality companies, while retaining an awareness of macro economic factors. Mr Thompson adds that there is not a whole lot of new buy ideas emerging, and says many of the fund's favoured stocks which are reaching fair value will be sold into strength.
| FIRST STATE ASIA PACIFIC LEADERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PRICE | 235.13p | SHARPE RATIO | 0.03 |
| SIZE OF FUND | £2,527m | 1-YR PERFORMANCE | 7.63% |
| No OF HOLDINGS | 43 | 3-YR PERFORMANCE | 53.24% |
| SET UP DATE | 01-Dec-03 | 5-YR PERFORMANCE | 148.21% |
| MANAGER START DATE | 01-Dec-03 | TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO | 1.57%* |
| BETA | 0.59 | YIELD | 1.57 |
| VOLATILITY | 4.11 | MINIMUM INVESTMENT | £1,000 |
| TRACKING ERROR | 3.2 | MORE DETAILS | www.firststate.co.uk |
Source: First State, www.ft.com/funds, *Morningstar
Top 10 holdings
| Holding | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Newcrest Mining | 8.7% |
| Swire Pacific | 5.7% |
| Brambles | 5.6% |
| Taiwan Semiconductor | 5.3% |
| Hong Kong & China Gas | 4.9% |
| Cheun Kong Holdings | 4.8% |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp | 4.2% |
| Lihir Gold | 3.2% |
| Chunghwa Telecom | 3.0% |
| Woodside Petroleum | 2.9% |
Regional breakdown
| Region | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Greater China | 38.3% |
| Australasia | 25.1% |
| South East Asia | 16.4% |
| Indian Subcontinent | 7.6% |
| Korea | 6.9% |
| Cash | 5.6% |
