CFSGAM launches Asian Growth Strategy

21 June, 2016

Media Release: Colonial First State Global Asset Management launches long-running Asian Growth strategy in Australia

Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) today announced the launch of the Colonial First State Wholesale Asian Growth Fund (the Fund). This is the first Australian unit trust managed by the firm’s First State Stewart Asia investment team.

The Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth that exceeds the MSCI AC Asia ex-Japan Index over a rolling five-year period and will invest primarily in equities issued by companies that are established, operating or have their economic activity mainly in the Asia region, excluding Japan. The Fund will maintain a concentrated portfolio of between 30 and 60 holdings.

The Asian Growth strategy was first launched in Asia in 1999. Since then, the team has built a successful track record of managing the strategy through a wide range of macro-economic cycles. The Australian unit trust, launched in March 2016, enables Australian investors to access the proven investment capabilities of the First State Stewart Asia team.

Michael Stapleton, Managing Partner of First State Stewart Asia said, “There are relatively few investment products in Australia that invest specifically in Asia ex-Japan. We believe there is growing demand for strategies that can tap into the long-term growth trends of the region.

“The Asian Growth strategy is a high-conviction portfolio of quality companies that operate in the Asia region. Despite the macro-economic headwinds, we believe that high quality businesses will ultimately find a way to prosper.

“As a result, we place a strong emphasis on proprietary research and direct company meetings, seeking to identify quality businesses. We pay little attention to benchmark indices and do not consider ourselves obliged to hold investments in any individual market, sector or company.

“We believe this is the best way to preserve capital – a persistent focus on quality along with a disciplined valuation process to make sure that a sensible price is paid for expected growth.”

First State Stewart Asia (FSSA) is a leading equity investment team within Colonial First State Global Asset Management, managing $30.2 billion of AUM1 across a range of small, mid and large-cap Asia Pacific equity strategies on behalf of institutional and wholesale clients globally. The team, based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Edinburgh, includes 15 dedicated investment professionals focused on the Asia Pacific equity markets. FSSA employs a conviction-based, bottom-up stock selection process with a strong emphasis on high quality proprietary research. The team invests with an absolute return mind-set and is inherently conservative, focusing on capital preservation as well as long-term capital growth.