HEAD-TO-HEAD: Allianz versus JP Morgan

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Manager review

Hong Kong-based lead manager Stuart Winchester of the Allianz fund has 37 years of industry experience and has managed the Oriental Income strategy since its inception in 1994.

He started his career in 1984 at Wood Gundy’s Japan office where he spent six years and formed the foundation of his Japanese equity know-how.

“We see his Japan investment credentials as a key strength for the strategy, considering that Japan accounts for 33% of the MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index. His proven investment savvy in smaller firms is another competitive advantage,” Liang said.

He currently leads four strategies with a total AUM of $2.1bn as of June 2021, with Allianz Oriental Income being the largest one at $1.5bn. He has also comanaged the Allianz Asia ex Japan Small Cap Equity strategy since January 2020, which has a good synergy with this strategy given Winchester’s penchant for smaller companies. Ian Lee is the backup manager here, who has 25 years of experience and joined Allianz in 2000.

Winchester gets support from four regional Asia analysts and 17 country analysts located in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. The analyst team averages 13 years of experience and five years with the firm.

But Liang pointed out that the team has not been very stable. After seeing three departures in 2020, the team lost one China analyst, two Taiwan analysts, and one Japan analyst in 2021 so far.

“While we would like to see the team stabilise, we take comfort that Winchester has managed to deliver despite the personnel changes over the years,” Liang said.

Aisa Ogoshi brings 23 years of investment experience and has led the JP Morgan strategy via its Sicav vehicle since June 2012. She joined JP Morgan’s Tokyo office in 1998 and spent four years as an analyst and a portfolio manager in the Japan portfolio manager team before moving to Hong Kong in 2005.

She has since been involved in this strategy by assuming control of its Japan sleeve and eventually took the lead of the Sicav vehicle and the Hong Kong unit trust in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Ogoshi works closely with backup manager Robert Lloyd, who has 20 years of investment experience and joined the firm in 2005. “The managers have a long history of collaboration, and we like that they have consistently demonstrated great synergy as well as a firm grasp of the portfolio holdings during our meetings,” said Liang.

They are well-supported by the sector analysts and country specialists within the firm’s 100-member emerging markets Asia Pacific (Emap) equites team. The team is one of the largest in the region and has been stable over the past few years.

“JP Morgan appointed Anuj Arora as its new head of Emap effective September 2021. While this is worth monitoring, we don’t expect the change of leadership to bring any meaningful changes to the team or investment process,” said Liang.

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