The £540m Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus trust has set out its proposals to remove the stubborn discount on the portfolio.
At a meeting on 27 January, shareholders will have the chance to vote on a new investment policy that abandons Australasia and focuses more on China, a new dividend policy, and a share split to entice more retail investors to invest in the trust.
In addition, because of the change in investment focus, Flavia Cheong, Abrdn’s head of equities, Asia Pacific, as been added as a joint lead manager on the investment trust. Neil Sun has also become an investment manager responsible for managing the potential increased weighting in North Asia, especially China.
The duo will work alongside Hugh Young (pictured) and Gabriel Sacks.
The company’s management fee has also dropped from 0.96% to a tiered structure, whereby 0.85% is paid on the first £250m of market cap, 0.6% on the next £500m and 0.5% on any market cap above £750m.
Furthermore, the board has introduced a performance-linked tender offer, meaning investors will be able to redeem up to 25% of the issued share capital if the trust’s net asset value underperforms the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index over a five-year period commencing 1 August 2021.
The board said the changes will aid the marketability of the investment trust and help reduce its discount, which currently sits at 8.5%.
