The fund is managed by Jonathan Pines, who has led the firm’s Emerging Asia strategy since its inception on 31 December 2009. He is part of Hermes’ six-strong emerging markets team.
The strategy has returned an annualised 15% since inception, beating its benchmark – MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index – by 10% per year. In the year to 30 September, the strategy returned 31%, beating its benchmark by 11%.
This fund complements Hermes existing Ucits range, and follows the introduction of its US Small & Mid Companies Fund in September.
Pines pointed to the structural and rapid change that accompanies the growth in emerging Asia, rather than the growth itself, as the source of stock selection opportunity.
“China is a case in point – recently, rapidly changing expectations about the structure and resilience of its economy have depressed valuations,” he explained,
“Some Chinese stocks have been hit harder than they deserve to have been. We are finding many stock picking opportunities in China, particularly among quality cyclical companies that are strong enough to weather the current challenging environment.”
The fund is available at an annual management charge of 1%, with a minimum investment of £1,000.
