A look at the fund portfolios of the top performing funds shows that the key investment themes revolved around consumer discretionary, financial and information technology companies.
The top five performing funds in the Asia ex-Japan equity category also managed to beat their respective benchmark indices, according to data from FE Analytics.
1. UOB United China India Dynamic Growth Fund
Topping the list of funds is the Singapore-domiciled UOB United China India Dynamic Growth Fund, which had $18.3m in assets under management in November.
Launched in January 2010, the fund benchmarks its performance against a customised benchmark wherein MSCI China and MSCI India each has an equal weighing.
In terms of asset allocation, the fund had invested 55.2% of its capital in Indian companies and 41.4% in Chinese companies.
Indian information technology giants such as Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services along with finance companies such as Housing Development Finance Corp and HDFC Bank, featured in the top five holdings. Tencent Holdings was the only Chinese company.
The overall portfolio is inclined to favour the financial sector with 30.4% weighting, followed by information technology and industrials that accounted for 19.6% and 9.6% of the assets, respectively.
2. Alliance Bernstein – Asia Ex-Japan Equity Portfolio
The Luxembourg-domiciled vehicle has been running since 2009, with assets under management worth $540m at the end November.
The fund seeks to invest in 60-100 companies in Asia ex-Japan that are trading at a discount to their long-term earnings potential.
In November, the top three country allocations were China (32.2% weighting), South Korea (19.7%) and Taiwan (16.2%).
Managed by Stuart Rae and Rajeev Eyunni, the fund’s top five holdings were in information technology companies such as Samsung Electronics and Advance Semiconductor, in financial companies AIA Group and China Construction Bank, and in telecommunication company China Mobile.
Dominating the fund portfolio allocation were the financial (37.8%), information technology (26.9%) and consumer discretionary sectors (10%).
3. JOHCM Asia ex-Japan Small and Mid Cap Fund
Securing the third rank is the Ireland-domiciled fund from JO Hambro Capital Management Group, which was managing assets worth $11.8m on 30 November.
Launched in 2011, the fund is managed by senior fund manager Cho-Yu Kooi, who has overweight positions in India and Taiwan. While China features in the top country breakdown list, the fund had an underweight position compared to its benchmark index, MSCI Asia Ex-Japan Small Cap TR Index.
The manager is overweight in all of its top five holdings: Pax Global Technology, Emami, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Berger Paints, and Ramco Systems.
The top five is made up of Indian companies except for Pax Global, which is Hong Kong listed.
Top sector allocations are in consumer discretionary, information technology and consumer staples companies.
4. Parvest Equity Best Selection Asia ex-Japan
Arthur Lok Tin Kwong, manager of the $487m Luxembourg-domiciled fund, has favoured investments in China, India and Hong Kong, which have 28.3%, 18% and 14% weighting respectively in the portfolio.
In terms of sector allocations, financial companies with about 29% weighting dominated the fund’s portfolio, followed by information technology (25.5%) and consumer discretionary (14.3%) companies.
Top stock holdings are comprised of Hutchinson Whampoa, Hynix Semiconductor, Tata Motors, Public Bank and Tech Mahindra.
5. Eurizon EasyFund Equity Emerging Markets Asia
The Luxembourg-domiciled fund, launched in 2008, was managing $135m worth in assets at the end of November.
Fund manager Luigi Antonaci is overweight in the financial, information technology and consumer discretionary sectors, with a 27.8% weighting, followed by 19.5% and 8.6% allocations, respectively.
In terms of geographic exposure, the manager favoured China (31.4%), Korea (22.9%) and Taiwan (20.1%).
Top stock picks include names like Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor and Tencent Holdings.
