First State Asia Pacific Leaders
Veteran investor Angus Tulloch has been running this fund since its launch in December 2003. Co-manager Richard Jones joined him in March this year.
The fund’s objective is to invest in the shares of companies that are based in or have “significant operations” in the Asia Pacific region, which in this case includes Australia and New Zealand but excludes Japan. The portfolio holds shares in large and mid-sized companies, while the fund factsheet stipulates “these companies generally have a total stock market value of at least US$1bn”.
The portfolio currently has 23.6 per cent in India, with 17 per cent in Australia and 13.4 per cent allocated to Hong Kong.
According to performance figures, the fund has outperformed both the IMA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector and its benchmark – the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan index – over one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.
In the five years to October 15, the fund delivered a return of 59.16 per cent, against the sector average of 32.53 per cent. Over 10 years, this First State fund has generated a highly impressive total return of 326.29 per cent.
What the judges say
You don’t get sacked for owning this fund, said the judges.
Club members
Fidelity Asian Values
Invesco Asia Trust
Investec Asia ex Japan
M&G Asian
In numbers
£7.3bn
Fund size
80.58%
Five-year actual return
1.55%
Ongoing charges
