“Asia is coming onto the radar and is likely to be a long-term opportunity. It’s the new area when it comes to valuations,” he said.
Although he said it’s unlikely that Asia will become a big part of the fund, he is looking to add names to the portfolio.
“It will always be a struggle to find a lot of Asian names to add. This is due to uncertainties in corporate governance and balance sheets. Increasing the fund’s exposure to Asia is not a material shift.”
Mustoe added that there was potential room for upping the exposure depending on stocks and performance.
“It’s always difficult to make a forecast based on percentages. Initially we are planning a measured start of 3-4%. We will evaluate as we go along and the number could rise,” Mustoe said.
Over the past six months, the fund has delivered a cumulative performance of 1.2% compared to the IMA Global Equity Income index, which showed a cumulative performance of 1.7%, according to FE Analytics.