Portfolio Adviser fund AwArds 2008 CAtegory winner
Fund Awards 2008
WINNER
First State Asia Pacific Leaders Fund
First State’s Sarah Mahomed Ross
“
This fund focuses
on companies with
earnings that are both
visible and sustainable
and these tend to be
more conservative and
higher quality – this is a
strategy that delivers
Tim Cockerill, PA Fund
Awards judge
Asia Pacific ex Japan equities
”
Angus Tulloch and Alistair
Thompson have managed
this fund since its launch in
December 2003 and are part
of an incredibly successful and
highly thought of First State
Asian equity team.
The fund specialises in
investing in large and mid-cap
equities and is part of a team
that is based in the region in
Hong Kong and Singapore
(where Thompson has his
office) as well as Edinburgh
(where Tulloch is based).
The latest Old Broad Street
Research (OBSR) report into
the £1.5bn fund, produced at
the end of September, adds
that the team has an absolute
Annual discrete performance
%
40
30
20
10
0
-10
First State Asia Pacific Leaders
Source: Morningstar
Quartile performance: 1 Jul ’05 – 1 Jul ’08
1st q’tile
2nd q’tile
3rd q’tile
4th q’tile
Q3
’05
Q4
’05
Source: Morningstar
Q1
’06
Q2
’06
12 Portfolio ADViSEr SuPPlEmEnt [www.portfolio-adviser.com] DEcEmbEr 2008
first state Asia Pacific leaders vs index
%
Year ending Jun ’06
Year ending Jun ’07
Year ending Jun ’08
Q3
’06
100
80
60
40
20
0
Jul ’05 Jan ’06
Source: Morningstar
M’star UK Eq Asia Pacific ex Japan
fund facts
return mindset with a three to
five-year time horizon.
Q4
’06
M’star UK Eq Asia Pacific ex Japan
Jul
Fund name: First State Asia Pacific Leaders Managers: Angus Tulloch, Alistair
Thompson Launch date: 1 Dec ’03 Fund size: £1.52bn Initial charge: 4%
Annual charge: 1.5% Min initial investment: £4,000 M’star rating: HHHHH
Q1
’07
Q2
’07
Q3
’07
Q4
’07
Q1
’08
Q2
’08
Jan ’07
Jul
First State Asia
Pacific Leaders
It goes on to say: “Sentiment
often dominates in the short
term and they believe such
influences usually revert to
levels reflecting the earnings
streams over the longer term.”
Another distinct influence
on the fund’s investment style
is preservation of capital and,
with this in mind, according
to OBSR: “The managers
expect the fund to underperform
in liquidity driven,
strongly rising markets when
risk appetite is high, but
typically perform better in falling
markets.”
In terms of country allocation,
the majority holding
is in Greater China (37.9%),
followed by Australia (20.8%)
and southeast Asia (20.1),
while the weakest areas of
performance are China and
Indonesia. The fund is underweight
financials (25% against
33%) and energy (3.3% compared
with 7.9%).
Jan ’08
Jul
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