HEAD-TO-HEAD: Barings vs JP Morgan

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Manager review

The Barings fund is managed by three portfolio managers: Lee Hyung-Jin, who is also head of Asian equities and leads the management of regional Asia ex-Japan products, such as the Asia Growth Fund; Eunice Hong, who has research responsibility for Korea; and Lim Soo-Hai, who also leads the management of the Australia Fund and the Asean Frontiers Fund, according to Ng.

Lee has been managing the fund since 2012, while Hong and Lim became co-managers in June 2018.

The three managers, all of which have spent 10 years with the firm, are supported by 15 regional and country managers and analysts, which include those that focus on the Greater China equity markets.

Turning to the JP Morgan Fund, Ng said that the product was taken over by Joanna Kwok and Mark Davids in 2015 when the firm decided to change the strategy. Before it became the Asia Growth Fund, it was Asia Domestic Opportunities, which was also a growth fund but focused on companies expected to benefit from growing domestic consumption in the region.

Kwok has been with the firm since 2002, while Davids joined in 1997.

Both managers are supported by 36 sector analysts and 20 country specialists on the emerging markets team. The emerging markets team is one of the largest globally, according to Ng.

The team is also supported by dedicated Greater China specialists.

Ng likes both teams, given the investment experience of the fund managers. Although JP Morgan has a larger team, he believes that the Barings fund has ample resources to manage the fund.

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