First State moves to slow Asia Pac Leaders inflows

First State Investments is seeking to slow new inflows into its market-leading £5.6bn Asia Pacific Leaders fund by holding back from listing on more platforms.

Angus Tulloch, manager of the fund, told investors this morning (July 31) that the fund would not be added to any more platforms on top of those it already lists on, which include Nucleus, Fidelity, Skandia and Cofunds.

The fund has grown from £5.3bn at the beginning of the year to £5.6bn today, as investors scrambled to access top performing emerging markets managers. First State soft-closed several of its emerging markets funds at the beginning of the year, and Mr Tulloch’s £785m Asia Pacific fund was soft-closed in 2004.

The current action - which also applies to Jonathan Asante’s offshore Global Emerging Markets Select fund - will not restrict new investments in the same way as a soft-close. Existing investors and those using the platforms where the fund is still available will still be able to access the portfolio.