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  • The Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities or equity-related securities of large and mid-capitalisation companies whose activities predominantly take place in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) and are listed, traded or dealt in on regulated markets worldwide.
  • Investing with the sustanability investment strategy in the Fund is subject to the associated risks such as subjective judgement in investment section, reliance on third party source, lack of global standardization regarding which activities qualify as sustainable and concentration in investments with sustainability focus.
  • The Fund invests in emerging markets which may have increased risks than developed markets including liquidity risk, currency risk/control, political and economic uncertainties, high degree of volatility, settlement risk and custody risk.
  • Investing in mid-capitalisation companies securities may have lower liquidity and their prices are more volatile to adverse economic developments.
  • The Fund’s investments may be concentrated in a single sector , single country/specific region risk which may have higher volatility or greater loss of capital than more diversified portfolios.
  • The Fund may expose to China market risk including repatriation risk, uncertainties to PRC taxation policies and risks associated with StockConnects, QFI, the ChiNext market and/or the STAR board. The Fund may also expose to RMB currency and conversion risk.
  • The Fund may use FDIs for hedging and efficient portfolio management purposes, which may subject the Fund to additional liquidity, valuation, counterparty and over the counter transaction risks.
  • It is possible that a part or entire value of your investment could be lost. You should not base your investment decision solely on this document. Please read the offering document including risk factors for details.
Asia Pacific Leaders

Asia Pacific Leaders

The Asia Pacific Leaders strategy invests in large and mid-sized companies which generally have a total stock market value of at least US$1 billion. 

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Investment objective and strategy

The Fund aims to achieve long term capital appreciation and substainably invest in companies which both contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development, achieving positive social and environmental sustainable outcomes. The Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities or equity-related securities of large and mid-capitalisation companies whose activities predominantly take place in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) and are listed, traded or dealt in on regulated markets worldwide.

The Asia Pacific Leaders strategy was originally launched in December 2003 and invests in large and mid-sized companies which generally have a total stock market value of at least US$1 billion (hence ‘Leaders’).

This equity-only strategy seeks to invest in between 30 to 60 high-quality businesses in the Asia Pacific region (including Australia and New Zealand, but excluding Japan) that are helping bring about a more sustainable future.

Strategy highlights: a focus on quality and sustainability

  • Companies must contribute to sustainable development. Portfolio Explorer >

  • We invest in high-quality companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials. How we pick companies >

  • We avoid companies linked to harmful activities and engage and vote for positive change. Our position on harmful products >

  • Our approach is long-term, bottom-up, high conviction and benchmark agnostic

  • We focus on capital preservation as well as capital growth – we define risk as the permanent loss of client capital

Latest insights

  • Asia Pacific Leaders: Thoughts

    Analyst and Senior Portfolio Manager David Gait gives his thoughts on the Asia Pacific Leaders strategy highlighting investment ideas and portfolio activity.

    15 Mar 2025
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  • Client letter: Why change a name?

    We have decided to remove the word ‘Sustainability’ from the Stewart Investors fund names. Why? Three and a half slow-burning thoughts have combined to make...

    23 Sep 2024
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Quarterly updates

Asia Pacific Leaders strategy update: 1 January - 31 March 2025

While broad Asia Pacific market indices edged slightly higher in both US dollar and Australian dollar terms, they moved slightly lower in euro and sterling terms. Perhaps of greater significance was that political turbulence resulted in a wide divergence of returns on a country level. Market indices in China, South Korea and Singapore moved higher but fell across the rest of the region, with some markets suffering double-digit falls.

Most notable was the extent of the divergence in returns between markets in India (down) and China (up). Investors’ enthusiasm for Chinese equities was, in part, a response to DeepSeek’s impressive demonstration of the progress the country is making in AI. Market-friendly rhetoric from the government in Beijing and hopes that the United States’ trade tariffs might not prove too onerous also helped to underpin the gains. In contrast, while there was relatively little news from India, share prices fell back from elevated levels, as they did in many other parts of the world; returns from the Indian market over the quarter were broadly in-line with those from markets in the United States.

During the quarter, we added new positions in S.F. Holding (China: Industrials), Mindray (China: Health Care) and Alibaba (China: Consumer Discretionary). We believe all three companies have the potential to benefit from China’s new emphasis on national self-reliance. Over the last five years, the stewards of Chinese companies have, often for the first time, been tested by genuine economic and political adversity. They have applied the lessons learned during this period of adversity, strengthening their franchises and balance sheets. This, in combination with valuations that appear modest by global standards, means we have been identifying a greater number of new investment ideas in China.

We are also finding quality companies at attractive valuations in the Philippines and India. The competition between new ideas for a place in the portfolio has rarely been this intense. The result was a busier-than-normal quarter. As part of this, and in addition to the Chinese names mentioned above, we added Bank of the Philippine Islands (Philippines: Financials) and BDO Unibank (Philippines: Financials). Both banks are family owned and professionally managed. They complement our existing investment in Ayala (Philippines: Industrials), to which we also added over the quarter. In India, we added a new holding in Bajaj Auto (India: Consumer Discretionary), a leading manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters and auto rickshaws backed by a high-quality steward. 

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To finance these additions, we trimmed our holdings in companies whose cashflows we believe are at greatest risk from the imposition of new tariffs by the Trump administration, such as Cochlear (Australia: Health Care), CSL (Australia: Health Care), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (New Zealand: Health Care) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (India: Health Care). All of these businesses import products into the United States from manufacturing plants overseas. We sold out of ResMed (Australia: Health Care), partly for valuation reasons and partly in view of its susceptibility to potential changes in US tariff policy. In a similar vein, we continued to reduce the holding in TSMC (Taiwan: Information Technology) as evidence continued to mount that it is losing control of capital expenditure.

Elsewhere, we reduced our holding in Mahindra & Mahindra (India: Consumer Discretionary) to control the size of our position. We also pared back holdings in Godrej Consumer Products (India: Consumer Staples), Marico (India: Consumer Staples), and Tech Mahindra (India: Information Technology) partly for valuation reasons but also to help finance the new investments mentioned above. A similar logic informed our complete sale of Tata Consumer Products (India: Consumer Staples).

As the long period of US exceptionalism draws to an end, we hope investors will begin to pay attention to the abundance of attractively valued companies to be found in the Asia Pacific region. Clearly, if the US economy falters and global demand falls, then economies across Asia will be impacted, albeit to differing degrees. We are also conscious that political risks appear to be rising in many Asian countries. Those risks, however, are far from uniform. The region’s technology complex, centred around Taiwan, South Korea and China, would appear to be particularly vulnerable to a global slowdown. India, by contrast, remains a domestically driven growth story and, as such, is somewhat isolated from the tumult in the global economy. The Philippines, meanwhile, could receive a significant economic boost if a global slowdown results in a meaningful fall in oil prices.

Predicting how any of today’s economic and geopolitical challenges will play out lies beyond our remit and our skillset. Fortunately, the Asian companies we invest in tend to have long memories; they still have the scar tissue formed during previous crises. These businesses have been forced to learn, to adapt and to become resilient. As a result, we believe they are set up not only to perform when conditions are fair but to navigate through whatever political and economic turbulence lies ahead. 

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 0.5%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.

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Select Strategy update and/or Proxy voting to produce a report. You can then download a copy of the report by clicking on the button.

You can build a bespoke report for all our strategies on the full Quarterly update report.

Stewart Investors Quarterly Client Update Q1 2025

1 January - 31 March 2025

Quarter update

Risk factors

This material is a financial promotion for the Stewart Investors strategies – Asia Pacific and Japan All Cap, Asia Pacific Leaders, Asia Pacific All Cap, European All Cap, European (ex UK) All Cap, Global Emerging Markets All Cap, Global Emerging Markets Leaders, Indian Subcontinent All Cap, Worldwide All Cap and Worldwide Leaders – and is intended for professional clients only in the UK, Switzerland and EEA and professional clients elsewhere where lawful.

Within the EU/EEA and Switzerland, the European (ex UK) strategy is only available to investors via a segregated mandate account.

Investing involves certain risks including:

  • The value of investments and any income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. Investors may get back significantly less than the original amount invested.
  • Emerging market risk: Emerging markets tend to be more sensitive to economic and political conditions than developed markets. Other factors include greater liquidity risk, restrictions on investment or transfer of assets, failed/delayed settlement and difficulties valuing securities.
  • Indian Subcontinent risk: although India has seen rapid economic and structural development, investing there may still involve increased risks of political and governmental intervention, potentially limitations on the allocation of the strategy’s capital, and legal, regulatory, economic and other risks including greater liquidity risk, restrictions on investment or transfer of assets, failed/delayed settlement and difficulties valuing securities.
  • Specific region risk: investing in a specific region  may be riskier than investing in a number of different countries or regions. Investing in a larger number of countries or regions helps spread risk.
  • Currency risk: the strategies invest in assets which are denominated in other currencies; changes in exchange rates will affect the value of the strategies and could create losses. Currency control decisions made by governments could affect the value of the strategies’ investments and could cause the strategies to defer or suspend redemptions of shares.
  • Concentration risk: the European Sustainability and Worldwide Leaders Sustainability strategies referred to in this material invest in a relatively small number of companies which may be riskier than a strategy that invests in a large number of companies.
  • Smaller companies risk: investments in smaller companies may be riskier and more difficult to buy and sell than investments in larger companies.

Where featured, specific securities or companies are intended as an illustration of investment strategy only, and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of our strategies for your investment needs, please seek investment advice.

Investment philosophy

  • We are stewards: Our role is to allocate society’s capital to productive uses, in accordance with our Hippocratic Oath
  • We are long term: Our time horizon is measured in years, not weeks, and we value companies accordingly
  • We invest only in companies contributing to a more sustainable future: We engage constructively as owners to help companies on their sustainability journeys
  • We invest only in high-quality companies: We seek out companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials
  • We believe capital preservation is important for capital growth: We define risk as the possibility of the permanent loss of client capital

Investment objective

To generate attractive long-term, risk-adjusted returns by investing in the shares of high-quality companies that are particularly well positioned to contribute to, and benefit from sustainable development.

Important information

This material is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute investment or financial advice and does not take into account any specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. This is not an offer to provide asset management services, is not a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any security or to execute any agreement for portfolio management or investment advisory services and this material has not been prepared in connection with any such offer. Before making any investment decision you should conduct your own due diligence and consider your individual investment needs, objectives and financial situation and read the relevant offering documents for details including the risk factors disclosure. Any person who acts upon, or changes their investment position in reliance on, the information contained in these materials does so entirely at their own risk.

We have taken reasonable care to ensure that this material is accurate, current, and complete and fit for its intended purpose and audience as at the date of publication but the information contained in the material may be subject to change thereafter without notice.

No assurance is given or liability accepted regarding the accuracy, validity or completeness of this material.

To the extent this material contains any expression of opinion or forward-looking statements, such opinions and statements are based on assumptions, matters and sources believed to be true and reliable at the time of publication only. This material reflects the views of the individual writers only. Those views may change, may not prove to be valid and may not reflect the views of everyone at First Sentier Investors.

Past performance is not indicative of future performance. All investment involves risks and the value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and you may not get back your original investment. Actual outcomes or results may differ materially from those discussed. Readers must not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there is no certainty that conditions current at the time of publication will continue. 

References to specific securities (if any) are included for the purpose of illustration only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell the same. Any securities referenced may or may not form part of the holdings of First Sentier Investors’ portfolios at a certain point in time, and the holdings may change over time.

References to comparative benchmarks or indices (if any) are for illustrative and comparison purposes only, may not be available for direct investment, are unmanaged, assume reinvestment of income, and have limitations when used for comparison or other purposes because they may have volatility, credit, or other material characteristics (such as number and types of securities) that are different from the funds managed by First Sentier Investors.

Selling restrictions

Not all First Sentier Investors products are available in all jurisdictions.

This material is neither directed at nor intended to be accessed by persons resident in, or citizens of any country, 

or types or categories of individual where to allow such access would be unlawful or where it would require any registration, filing, application for any licence or approval or other steps to be taken by First Sentier Investors in order to  comply with local laws or regulatory requirements in such country.

About First Sentier Investors

References to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ are references to First Sentier Investors, a global asset management business which 

is ultimately owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). Certain of our investment teams operate under the trading names FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors and Realindex Investments, all of which are part of the First Sentier Investors Group.

This material may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part, and in any form or by any means circulated without the prior written consent of First Sentier Investors.

We communicate and conduct business through different legal entities in different locations. This material is communicated in:

  • United Kingdom by First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 2294743; reg office Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7EB).
  • European Economic Area by First Sentier Investors (Ireland) Limited, authorised and regulated in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI reg no. C182306; reg office 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland; reg company no. 629188).
  • Other jurisdictions, where this document may lawfully be issued, by First Sentier Investors International IM Limited, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 122512; reg office 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB; regcompany no. SC079063).

To the extent permitted by law, MUFG and its subsidiaries are not liable for any loss or damage as a result of reliance on any statement or information contained in this document. Neither MUFG nor any of its subsidiaries guarantee the performance of any investment products referred to in this document or the repayment of capital. Any investments referred to are not deposits or other liabilities of MUFG or its subsidiaries, and are subject to investment risk, including loss of income and capital invested.

© First Sentier Investors Group

Full Quarterly client update >>

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Proxy voting

Asia Pacific Leaders proxy voting: 1 January - 31 March 2025

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 62 resolutions from 12 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against five resolutions.

We voted against executive remuneration at Bank Central Asia because we believed it was excessive. (one resolution)

We voted against the election of two directors and an audit committee member at Samsung Electronics as we do not believe them to be truly independent. (three resolutions)

We voted against the election of the audit committee chair at Unicharm as we do not believe they are independent. (one resolution)

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.

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Portfolio Explorer

The information provided on this webpage does not constitute any investment advice or recommendation with regards to any investment product/services.

If you are unable to view the portfolio explorer, please re-open in Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera. IE11 is not supported.

For illustrative purposes only. Reference to the names of example company names mentioned in this communication is merely for explaining the investment strategy and should not be construed as investment advice or investment recommendation of those companies. Companies mentioned herein may or may not form part of the holdings of Stewart Investors. Holdings are subject to change.

Certain statements, estimates, and projections in this document may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Stewart Investors’ current assumptions and beliefs, in light of currently available information, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual actions or results may differ materially from those discussed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. There is no certainty that current conditions will last, and Stewart Investors undertakes no obligation to correct, revise or update information herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. Securities mentioned are all investee companies* from representative Asia Pacific All Cap Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan All Cap Strategy, Asia Pacific Leaders Strategy, European All Cap Strategy, European (ex UK) All Cap Strategy, Global Emerging Markets (ex China) Leaders Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Leaders Strategy, Global Emerging Markets All Cap Strategy, Indian Subcontinent All Cap Strategy, Worldwide All Cap Strategy and Worldwide Leaders Strategy accounts as at 31 March 2025. *Assets that the strategies may hold which an active decision has not been made, and sustainability assessment does not apply, include cash, cash equivalents, short-term holdings for the purpose of efficient portfolio management and holdings received as a result of mandatory corporate actions. Holdings of such assets will not appear on Portfolio Explorer.

The Stewart Investors supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full list of SDGs can be found on the United Nations website.

Source for Climate Solutions and impact figures: © 2014–2025 Project Drawdown (drawdown.org). Source for Human Development Pillars: Stewart Investors investment team.

Source for climate solutions and human development analysis and mapping: Stewart Investors investment team. Contributions are defined by the team as demonstrable contributions to any solution, either direct (directly attributable to products, services or practices provided by that company), or enabling (supported or made possible by products or technologies provided by that company).

Investment terms

View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this website.

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Fund data and information

Key documents

Strategy and fund name changes

As of end of 2024, please note that Stewart Investors strategies and the Funds within the UK First Sentier Investors ICVC, First Sentier Investors Global Umbrella Fund plc (Irish VCC) and First Sentier Investors Global Growth Funds (Singapore Unit Trust) have been renamed. Please refer to our note via the link below for further information.

Read the client letter

 

 

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Investment involves risks. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Refer to the offering documents of the respective funds for details, including risk factors. Investors may not get back the full amount invested.

This website is issued by First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. First Sentier Investors, FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, RQI Investors and Igneo Infrastructure Partners are the business names of First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited. 

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