Suits investors looking to receive a steady reliable income from diversified sources. Although income will be the top priority, investors will also benefit from the prospect of growth in the Asia Pacific region.

The Company aims to provide a high dividend as well as capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of investments traded on Pacific, Australasian, Japanese and Indian stock markets. Dividends are paid quarterly.

• It is the largest and most established Asian income company, investing throughout the Asia Pacific region.
• Dividends from Asian companies now rival those from UK companies and provide a diverse source of income. Henderson Far East Income Limited generates income from a range of countries, sectors and companies.
• Asia is the growth market of the 21^st Century. By 2035 China's GDP is projected to overtake the US (Source: GS BRICS Model Projections).

 

• Investors need to be aware of exchange rates. Most of the investments in this portfolio are not made in Sterling so exchange rates could affect the value of and income from your investment.
• Asian focused portfolios are exposed to Emerging Markets which tend to be less stable than more established markets and can be affected by local political and economic conditions, reliability of trading systems, buying and selling practices and financial reporting standards. 
• This portfolio allows the manager to use options for revenue enhancement purposes. Options can be volatile and may result in a capital loss. Full details of risks.

Asian markets were flat in April as uncertainty over elections in Greece and France and weaker US employment growth counteracted the benefit of European Central Bank (ECB) liquidity. Asian growth also moderated over the month as Chinese first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew by the slowest amount in three years (8.1%) and Indian industrial production disappointed market estimates. The best performing market was China, which was helped by the strength of the local ’A’ shares, which rallied following the increase of foreign investor quotas and a reduction in trading commission charges. The worst performing market was Taiwan following the announcement of a capital gains tax on share transactions to be implemented in 2013. With risk appetite rising, the defensive sectors of telecoms and consumer discretionary outperformed while materials and industrials lagged.

The portfolio benefited from the strength of China and the weakness of India. The underweight position in Australia was detrimental to performance but more than offset from the strength of telecoms and consumer discretionary.

We were fairly active over the month switching Sun Hung Kai Properties into Cheung Kong, Petronas Chemicals into Taiwan Cement and Yuanta Financial into Taiwan Mobile. We also added Indonesian coal miner Indo Tambangraya Mega and trimmed positions in CTCI and Digital China following strong performance.

Asian markets are attractively valued and we remain positive over the medium to long term. In the short term, however, we expect markets to remain volatile while investors digest news from Europe and the outlook for global growth.

Mike Kerley
April 2012