Revamp pays off for Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus – Over the year ended 31 July 2017, the NAV of Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus (formerly Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies) rose by 7.1%. In comparison, the MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific ex-Japan Small Cap Index lost 0.5% and the more large cap MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index rose by 5.7%. Meanwhile, the discount to NAV per share narrowed from 14.8% to 11.6% and the total dividend was raised from 17p to 19p. This helped deliver a return to shareholders of 11.4%.
The fund’s investment approach was revamped last year, with a greater emphasis on a smaller number of the managers’ best ideas. The manager’s report notes that, in a period of considerable volatility and political and economic uncertainty, investors sought refuge in better-quality stocks. This suited the manager’s approach and was beneficial to performance.
Extract from the manager’s report
“The portfolio’s heavier bias towards Southeast Asia was rewarding as several longstanding holdings in these markets made meaningful contributions. In Thailand, shares of financial-services companies, Aeon Thana Sinsap and Tisco Financial, both rose by over 60%. Aeon Thana’s results continued to impress, while Tisco expanded after it bought the local retail-banking operations of Standard Chartered and continued to report low provision charges for bad debts. Another standout performer was Philippine port operator Asian Terminals, which gained on higher cargo volumes handled through its ports.”
AAS : Revamp pays off for Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus