Funds from TT International, Federated Hermes and JP Morgan Asset Management are among the best performing Asia ex Japan strategies so far in 2025, according to data compiled from FE fundinfo.
Asia ex Japan equities are outperforming both the broader MSCI World index and the S&P 500 index year-to-date, despite not being spared from the initial US tariff shock in April.
Strong performances from China, Hong Kong and South Korea markets have helped push Asian equities to return 16% year-to-date in US dollar terms, versus 10.5% from the MSCI World index and 7.3% from the S&P 500 index.
As investors start to think about diversifying their portfolios after years of so-called ‘”US exceptionalism”, Asian equities could be a natural destination.
With this in mind, FSA singles out 10 top-performing Asia ex Japan equity funds based on their 2025 year-to-date performance.
Only funds over $30m in size which are available for distribution in Hong Kong and Singapore were considered. Performance is in US dollar terms and all figures are according to data from FE fundinfo.
| Fund | YTD return (%) | ISIN Code |
| TT Asia Ex Japan Equity | 25.21 | IE00BDFKF882 |
| iShares S&P Asia 50 ETF | 20.23 | US4642884302 |
| Federated Hermes Asia ex-Japan Equity | 20.19 | IE00BLPJRV81 |
| Foord Asia Ex-Japan | 18.67 | LU2107516960 |
| iShares MSCI AC Far East ex-Japan UCITS ETF | 18.5 | IE00B0M63730 |
| Value Partners High Dividend Stocks | 17.61 | HK0000288743 |
| JPMorgan SAR Asian | 17.09 | HK0000013752 |
| Principal Sustainable Asia Equity Income | 16.96 | HK0000272416 |
| JPMorgan Asia Equity Dividend | 16.9 | HK0000151818 |
| M&G (Lux) Asian | 16.71 | LU1670618187 |
The TT Asia ex Japan Equity fund was the best performer, up 25.2% year-to-date. The $43m fund is managed by Duncan Robertson.
According to the fund’s latest factsheet, it has overweight in Hong Kong-listed stocks Tencent and AIA Group which have both outperformed broader markets this year.
A number of exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) were also among the top performers. BlackRock’s iShares S&P Asia 50 ETF benefitted from its emphasis on investing only in the largest stocks listed in the region.
Elsewhere, the iShares MSCI AC Far East ex Japan UCITS ETF also performed well, owing to its larger weighting towards China and South Korean stocks, and exclusion of India – a market which has underperformed more recently.
The $4.3bn Federated Hermes Asia ex-Japan Equity fund was another top performer, up 20.2% year-to-date.
The strategy is managed by Jonathan Pines, who has a preference for South Korean stocks, anticipating corporate governance reforms gathering momentum and unlocking shareholder value.
As of the fund’s latest factsheet, it has more than double the index weighting towards South Korea. Korean firms such as Samsung electronics, Samsung Fire & Marine and Korea Investment were among the fund’s top 10.
JP Morgan Asset Management has two funds that feature, the $1.39bn JPMorgan SAR Asian fund run by Mark Davids, Oliver Cox and Alice Wong, as well as the $1bn JPMorgan Asia Equity Dividend fund, run by Jeffrey Roskell, Julie Ho and Ruben Lienhard.
Also in the list were a number of other dividend and income focused funds, which benefitted from higher dividend payouts from companies in the region.
Ongoing corporate governance improvements, particularly in South Korea and China, have been supportive of higher dividend payouts in the region.
China’s tech giant Alibaba paid a maiden dividend in 2023 and has become one of the region’s largest dividend payers.
