Asia Pacific and Japan All Cap

New purchases over the quarter

We took advantage of the pullback in July to initiate a position in SK Hynix, a leading semiconductor company in Korea with a solid position in the DRAM and NAND memory markets. More importantly, it is the leader in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) that is now being optimised for AI use. While traditional DRAM and NAND memory has become commoditised and commands little pricing power, HBM is built around annual contracts, long lead times, and high capital intensity. Customers like NVIDIA must commit to volumes well in advance, and vendors must make investment decisions based on those commitments. This order-based model introduces more predictability and customer stickiness (though it also increases execution risk and dependence on a few large buyers).

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is the second largest bank in the Philippines. The bank is majority-owned by Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines’ most established and influential business groups, and it has many of Ayala’s associated qualities: a strong governance framework, measured growth, and operational professionalism. BPI operates with one of the leanest cost structures in the Philippine banking sector, supported by its scale, automation and relatively high productivity per branch. It has delivered a steady improvement in returns over the past few years, reflecting its stronger operating leverage, improving margins, and relatively stable asset quality. Structurally, we think the long-term investment potential is attractive, as the Philippines is one of the most under-penetrated banking markets in emerging markets relative to its economic size and demographics. With a population of ~114 million and a GDP of US$505bn, it is among Southeast Asia’s larger economies, yet its household credit to GDP remains close to frontier market levels.

Luxshare Precision is an electronics contract manufacturer that counts Apple as its largest client. In recent years the company has been diversifying its business away from smartphone assembly towards automotive components and segments related to AI data centre infrastructure, such as connection components, optical components and cooling systems. Luxshare’s disciplined management and track record of scaling new businesses give us confidence in its prospects.

Complete sales over the quarter

The only complete sale over the quarter was Alibaba. Our recent discussions on the company raised questions about its capital allocation and its constant strategy reinventions. We see a familiar pattern emerging: a 3- to 5-year blueprint, a large total addressable market (TAM), an attractive margin story, then another restructuring and another narrative before the old milestones are delivered. Offline retail was once the big opportunity; then logistics was a strategic pillar; and then cross-border and live-streaming e-commerce were supposed to be major opportunities. Today the big story is AI, but we are sceptical whether Alibaba can remain focused and follow through with its plans long enough to benefit from the opportunity.

Looking forward

Asian equities continue to offer a compelling combination of structural growth and improving earnings prospects. We see attractive opportunities in India, supported by favourable demographics and rising incomes, while in China, the shift towards higher-value industries and globally competitive businesses continues to create a rich opportunity set for long-term investors.

In the near term, markets are likely to be influenced by the path of US interest rates, global trade policy developments, Chinese policy support and the sustainability of AI-related capital expenditure. But we believe valuations across much of Asia remain reasonable relative to long-term earnings potential, particularly in parts of China and ASEAN where sentiment remains subdued. 

Meanwhile, though returns have been driven by a narrow group of AI beneficiaries over the past two years, there are encouraging signs that market leadership is beginning to broaden. We are confident that our portfolio holdings – high-quality businesses with strong governance, resilient balance sheets and durable competitive advantages – should continue to deliver attractive shareholder returns in the long run.

The third largest contributor to performance was TSMC, which rose after reporting strong earnings results. Its position as the most technically advanced fabricator of leading-edge semiconductor chips is clear, despite whispers of rising competition from Intel and Samsung. TSMC enjoys more than 90% share of leading-edge nodes, and with AI demand driving higher profits and strong guidance for the year ahead, the company is accelerating capital expenditure plans to try and narrow the gap between its supply and customer demand. Meanwhile, tight supply should support higher prices and feed into gross margins and profitability, with good visibility through to 2027-28.

On the negative side, Tencent was the largest detractor from performance. The company posted earnings results that were broadly consistent with forecasts, as weaker-than-expected gaming revenue was offset by robust performance in its online advertising business. We believe the decline in the share price reflects ongoing concerns over the perceived slow pace of Tencent's monetisation of AI. Nevertheless, we believe the company's vast WeChat ecosystem and access to data will provide it with strong advantages in the AI era.

The second largest detractor from performance was Jardine Matheson. The company held its inaugural investor day, which broadly reiterated its commitment to disciplined capital allocation and to improve operations in existing businesses, which should lead to improvements in total shareholder returns. We believe the recent weakness is due to its exposure to certain sectors and geographies, especially Indonesia which is facing a number of headwinds.

The third largest detractor was AIA Group, which declined despite solid earnings results. Although its Thailand business dragged on performance – as it fell from a high comparable base in 2025 – the Value of New Business grew strongly in other markets, particularly Mainland China and Hong Kong. We believe the weakness is due to concerns about greater regulatory clampdown on cross-border capital flows, which would affect new business from mainland China visitors.

New purchases over the quarter

Lite-On Technology is a leading Taiwanese power supply maker which has benefited from the explosive growth in AI data centres. As server power and power density continues to rise, Lite-On should benefit from higher selling prices and improved margins.

Sunny Optical is a leading Chinese supplier of optical components. The company is gaining market share in camera modules for the automotive industry and this segment now accounts for a growing proportion of its revenue. Sunny Optical also sees growth opportunities in other areas, such as augmented-reality glasses and industrial cameras for warehouse management. We believe the risk-reward looks attractive.

ICICI Bank is one of the largest private sector banks in India. We believe the structural opportunity for high-quality private banks like ICICI Bank lies in its ability to gain share from inefficient state-owned banks. While the bank had highly aggressive lending practices and a risk-taking culture in the past, the appointment of CEO Sandeep Bakshi in 2018 signalled change after a long and tumultuous history. Under Mr Bakshi’s leadership, the bank has undergone a cultural transformation and now fosters a more long-term oriented, conservative and risk-aware mindset. The results are evident in the bank’s performance, and it now boasts industry-leading asset quality and growth metrics. ICICI has invested significantly in technology (digitisation and automation) over the last year, which has led to higher costs, but as revenue growth improves, there is potential for operating leverage to grow. Meanwhile, asset quality is currently the best it has been over the last three decades.

Complete sales over the quarter

We continued to sell out of lower conviction holdings, consolidating the portfolio into companies where we have more confidence in the management, franchise and financials. Complete sales over the quarter included Mainfreight, a New Zealand logistics company, Yifeng Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain in China, and Sysmex, a Japanese healthcare and medical device company.

Looking forward

We remain optimistic on the outlook for Asian equities. While the Middle East conflict, and its impact on energy prices, has led to elevated short-term market volatility, our quality bias means that our holdings should remain fundamentally resilient. Although Asia is heavily dependent on the Middle East for its energy needs, the emerging markets universe has historically operated in a more inflationary and volatile environment, and we have taken this into consideration in our stock selection.

In the long run, we believe Asia should continue to benefit from the shift towards higher value services-led growth, digital transformation and the ongoing financialisation across the region. Valuations look attractive in comparison to developed markets like the US, while low ownership of Asian equities in global portfolios provides a good backdrop for absolute returns as global liquidity flows eastwards.

As markets start to broaden from their narrow focus on AI, we believe quality businesses owned in the portfolio should do well. We have invested in companies with high-quality management who think long term and counter-cyclically, operating in industries with deep moats that support predictable and strong returns on capital. They are running businesses with solid pricing power due to strong brands, high switching costs, or strong network effects, and with conservative balance sheets where cash exceeds debt. We are confident that their strong fundamentals will translate into attractive shareholder returns in the long run.

The second largest contributor was Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the leading semiconductor foundry, as recent earnings results were stronger than expected. With AI demand driving higher profits and strong guidance for the year ahead, the company announced new capital expenditure plans to try and narrow the gap between its supply of advanced nodes and customer demand.

The third largest contributor to performance was Silergy, as the management offered a more positive outlook for the second half of 2026, driven by stronger growth, a better pricing environment and relatively stable foundry costs. Recent earnings results indicated that demand was better than expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, especially in areas such as solid-state drives, energy storage and semiconductor equipment, and gross profit margins improved over the previous quarter – a sign that the cycle is turning positive for Silergy’s business.

On the negative side, Monotaro was the largest detractor from performance. Monotaro’s sales surged late last year after a ransomware attack on rival firm Askul caused it to shut down its services, and customers switched over to Monotaro. Monotaro’s valuation multiple rerated due to higher monthly sales growth but has since fallen back after Askul resumed operations in January 2026.  

The second largest detractor was Tencent, the biggest social media network and online gaming company in China, which declined after announcing it would reduce its share buybacks to support accelerated investment in AI. We recently met the company to discuss its AI strategy, and came away with our conviction strengthened. Tencent has been hiring experts in the field and is developing an in-house LLM. Over the longer term, we believe Tencent should benefit from AI thanks to its unique advantages: a massive user base across WeChat, games and payments; rich first-party data; and integrated advertising and content systems.  We have been using the recent weakness to build up a meaningful position in the company.

The third largest detractor was HDFC Bank, as the bank continued to face a challenging operating environment and improvement in net interest margin has been slower than expected. The resignation of the chairman also led to concerns. However, we have spoken with the management and joined a call with the new interim chairman Keki Mistry, who we respect. We feel comfortable about the governance and the quality of its franchise – in particular, its deposit franchise and underwriting culture/capability remain solid and a standout amongst banks. Valuations have declined to levels not seen before, even during the Global Financial Crisis or the Covid-19 pandemic, and we find this to be very attractive, given HDFC’s leading deposit franchise and pristine balance sheet. We believe returns can improve and book value can compound at a mid-teens rate which is attractive in absolute terms

New purchases over the quarter

Realtek is an integrated circuits (IC) design company based in Taiwan which focuses on connectivity solutions such as WiFi, Ethernet and Bluetooth. While wireless technology is relatively mature and seemingly commoditised, there does seem to be some differentiation between providers. With rising competition from Chinese chip designers who often undercut on price, Realtek is focusing more on value-added products and has targeted applications with higher tech requirements, such as Edge-AI devices and AI glasses. We are optimistic that Realtek will be able to fend off the competition with higher barriers to entry as it moves up the value chain, and that margins should improve due to the product mix. The company has a long history and good track record and should benefit from the broadening use of AI in on-device AI agents.

Sony is a leading global entertainment business, with the #1 console gaming franchise (Playstation), leading music and film businesses, and image-sensing chips and consumer electronics. Its content has proven to be popular hits (for example, Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters and the Demon Slayer movie), and its Playstation platform helps to popularise third-party games. While the group is diverse, its business divisions operate synergistically, and the management is strongly committed to disciplined capital allocation and focused on returns and profitability. We took the opportunity to initiate a position on recent share price weakness.

H World is the second largest hotel chain in China. The company has emerged as a dominant force in China’s hotel industry, with a strong brand portfolio and deep operational expertise. H World is widely regarded as an industry innovator, with a strong focus on digital infrastructure and IT systems. These investments have helped it become a cost leader in the sector, while its membership programme has emerged as a key driver of organic traffic and customer retention. We believe H World has a long runway of growth as it taps into China’s rising domestic travel demand, urbanisation and upgraded consumer preferences. H World’s significantly larger economies of scale – and its pricing premium over other hotels in similar locations – should drive outsized profit in the long run.

Complete sales over the quarter

We continued to sell out of lower conviction holdings, consolidating the portfolio into companies where we have more confidence in the management, franchise and financials. Complete sales over the quarter included SHIFT, a Japanese IT systems and software testing provider; and Glodon, a leading construction software vendor in China.

We also sold out of Tech Mahindra, as the changing face of technology is leading to headwinds for IT services companies in general. This has led to revenue deflation, which makes it even harder for large companies to adjust. The valuation was not cheap, factoring in these concerns, and the risk/reward did not seem favourable.

Looking forward

We remain optimistic on the outlook for Asian equities. While the Middle East conflict, and its impact on energy prices, will likely result in elevated short-term market volatility, our quality bias means that our holdings should remain fundamentally resilient. Although Asia is heavily dependent on the Middle East for its energy needs, the emerging markets universe has historically operated in a more inflationary and volatile environment, and we have taken this into consideration in our stock selection.

In the long run, we believe Asia should continue to benefit from the shift towards higher value services-led growth, digital transformation and the ongoing financialisation across the region. Valuations look attractive in comparison to developed markets like the US, while low ownership of Asian equities in global portfolios provides a good backdrop for absolute returns as global liquidity flows eastwards.

As markets start to broaden from their narrow focus on AI, we believe quality businesses owned in the portfolio should do well. We have invested in companies with high-quality management who think long term and counter-cyclically, operating in industries with deep moats that support predictable and strong returns on capital. They are running businesses with solid pricing power due to strong brands, high switching costs, or strong network effects, and with conservative balance sheets where cash exceeds debt. We are confident that their strong fundamentals will translate into attractive shareholder returns in the long run.

Latest insights from the FSSA team

We have written short articles on companies, investment trends and market themes across our various strategies, which are available to read on the FSSA website.

Our latest piece “Against the current” discusses the reasons why high-quality companies are being overlooked amid the artificial intelligence boom and resurgence in cyclical stocks. FOMO is beating fundamentals; but these trends are creating opportunities for quality-focused investors in Asia and emerging markets to accumulate attractive businesses at lower valuations. 

Martin Lau is one of the Managing Partners of FSSA Investment Managers. He has been with the team for more than 23 years (since 2002) and worked closely with members of the SI team before the 2015 reorganisation. He is a well-known and experienced investor and is lead manager of a number of FSSA strategies, including FSSA Asian Equity Plus, FSSA Asia Focus, FSSA China Growth and FSSA Hong Kong Growth. Martin has more than 30 years of investment experience and is also based in Hong Kong.  

Rizi and Martin are supported by a broader team of investment analysts, with an average of 14 years of investment experience and 8 years tenure with the team. All 15 members of the FSSA investment team are analysts first and foremost, including the portfolio managers, and we spend the majority of our time meeting companies, writing research and seeking quality companies to invest in. 

How we invest

FSSA’s investment philosophy, which shares its genesis with SI, has remained broadly unchanged since the First State Stewart team was established in 1988. We focus on identifying quality companies, buying them at a sensible price and holding them for the long term. Most importantly, we invest our clients’ capital as if it were our own. As long-term investors and owners of businesses on behalf of our clients, we look for founders and management teams that act with integrity and risk awareness, and dominant franchises that have the ability to deliver sustainable and predictable returns over the long term.  

As a team, we conduct over 1,000 direct company meetings each year across Asia and other emerging markets. The most significant source of investment ideas comes from these company visits and country research trips. We find that our reputation as patient, long-term investors has given us unparalleled access to management, which allows us to gain valuable insights and a thorough understanding of the businesses we want to invest in. 

As a result of our long-term time horizon and conservative investment approach, our portfolios – and our performance – can look very different to the index. We shy away from “flavour of the month” themes (such as the current AI-driven boom), and instead look for high-quality companies that can deliver attractive returns for much longer than the market expects – and extend our investment time horizon to capture that advantage. When you own quality businesses, time isn’t a risk – it’s an asset. 

Our performance may lag in very buoyant or momentum-driven markets, but we usually compensate very quickly once such bubbles burst. Based on historical data, our long-term track record shows that our portfolios tend to perform better in “normal” markets (-15% to +15% returns over one year) and bear markets (more than 15% decline), than in steeply rising markets (defined as over 15% returns over one year). 

A smooth transition

Given the significant overlap in SI’s and FSSA’s investment philosophy and portfolios, we know all the holdings well. As part of the transition, we made a few changes to tilt the portfolio towards companies with stronger cash generation, higher returns and better long-term growth prospects. In general, we are adding to holdings in China, where we have found leading businesses like Tencent, with strong competitive advantages and attractive growth at reasonable valuations. We are reducing exposure to India, mainly in cyclical businesses like Tube Investments of India and Motilal Oswal, where valuations are expensive and the growth outlook has deteriorated. 

Below, we highlight a few of the key additions and disposals over the fourth quarter of 2025.  

New purchases:

Tencent Holdings is the largest social media network and online gaming company in China, with growing businesses in online advertising, cloud services, e-payments/e-commerce and overseas gaming. Tencent has created an ecosystem of businesses which are unrivalled and should continue growing over the medium term. It has continued to develop new functions within WeChat (such as Video Accounts and Mini Shops), which should slowly improve monetisation and enhance the quality of the franchise. At FSSA, we have been shareholders of Tencent since 2005 and have consistently found the management to be effective long-term stewards of the business. In recent times, we have been impressed by Tencent’s AI strategy and its disciplined approach to technology investments, which aligns with our conservative view on AI capex spending. 

Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) is one of India’s leading financial services companies – it has consistently improved the strength of its deposit franchise and maintained better asset quality than peers through the business cycle. While the founder, Uday Kotak, has stepped down from his managing director/CEO role due to the central bank’s limits on leadership terms, he remains closely involved as a board director and should ensure that the bank’s risk awareness and long-term thinking is maintained. Meanwhile, the new CEO (Ashok Vaswani) aspires to grow the business further by focusing on consumer banking and digitisation. We expect to see a growing trend of formalised financial savings, benefiting KMB’s insurance, mutual funds and asset management businesses. 

Mediatek is one of the largest chip design companies globally. We have been following Mediatek for many years and have witnessed its performance through the cycles. Throughout the ups and downs in its history, its talented engineers and well-aligned management team usually find a way through to the next “big thing”. From optical drives for computers to scan CDs, it entered the smartphone supply chain with 2G modem chips and benefited from technology upgrades each year – until it collapsed in 2015-17 amid poor execution and competition from both low- and high-end competitors. In 2018 Rick Tsai joined Mediatek from TSMC and focused on getting the basics right again. We believe Mediatek has been transformed under his leadership into a better-quality company. In recent years, the company has improved its competitiveness, and we believe its market share will likely remain stable. With the smartphone market now in the mature stages, the company is investing into new areas (ASIC, auto, augmented reality/virtual reality, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence) to diversify and internationalise its business in the long run. 

Complete sales: 

Milkyway Intelligent Supply Chain is a chemical materials logistics company in China. We sold out of the position on concerns about leverage and poor cash generation. 

Naver was sold on strength to consolidate the portfolio into higher conviction ideas. While the shares have bounced due to excitement around Korea and AI, we believe the business faces structural challenges in terms of slowing e-commerce growth, and we have been concerned about their lack of financial discipline in the past. 

Motilal Oswal Financial Services is a non-bank financial company (NBFC) in India. We sold out of a lower conviction holding to raise cash for better ideas elsewhere. 

Performance and outlook

With our long-term investment time horizon, we tend not to pay much attention to short-term market fluctuations. We invest on at least a three-to-five-year view, though we often hold on to companies for much longer. In an industry rife with short-termism, we believe our long-term approach stands out from the crowd. 

What we have seen, over the past few decades, is that average holding periods for stocks have fallen from over eight years in the 1960s to less than six months today.  Yet this shift has come at a cost: it reduces investors’ ability to generate outsized returns that are materially different from the broader market. The reason is simple — as investment horizons shrink, so does the return dispersion between the best- and worst-performing companies. With less time in the market, investors end up tracking the index, not beating it.