Bestinvest says
Martin Lau is an experienced fund manager investing in the Asia Pacific ex Japan region and is supported by strong analytical resource with small teams based in Singapore and Hong Kong in addition to the main office in Edinburgh. The manager adopts a pragmatic medium to long term investment approach with a flexible style that will adapt to prevailing economic conditions. This fund offers investors a route to access quality growth in the Asia-Pacific region along with a reasonable income yield with a view to providing attractive total return from these two sources.
The manager's investment universe covers companies operating in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan but including Australasia. The manager relies heavily on qualitative analysis and his team's own research and contact network to generate ideas. Sustainability of earnings and earnings growth are key considerations for potential investee companies. The team carries out over 1000 company meetings each year, assessing the company based on Quality, Growth and Price in an effort to identify good companies with growth potential that are being mis-priced by the market.
Qualitative analysis is supported by quantitative analysis of the financial strength of each company.
This research gives rise to a watchlist of around 350 stocks. These stocks will have a clear statement on entry prices as well as review prices to enable the construction of a portfolio of stocks which are trading below their fair value.
There is no explicit dividend requirement, but the income mandate for this fund will naturally lead the manager to favour stocks with a strong dividend yield. As a result, the fund is likely to have a higher weighting to sectors such as telecoms than a pure growth mandate.