HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ninety One versus Schroders

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The three-year cumulative performance of the Ninety One and Schroder funds versus their benchmark index and sector in Hong Kong.

PERFORMANCE

The Schroders fund has outperformed the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index and industry peers on a three-year basis. On the flipside, the Ninety One offering has underperformed both the index and peer average, according to data from FE Fundinfo.

While the Ninety One offering underperformed during the period, Poole noted that there were periods that it performed well.

“The Ninety One Fund struggled in years when the main driver of returns has been broad macro-economic themes, such as in 2015, when China was struggling, and also in 2020. It wasn’t stock-picking in the market that was driving returns in those years, it was broad market beta,” he said.

“These are not breaking years for the stock-picking 4Factor model. But in a more normal environment in Asia, where there are more alpha opportunities, the 4Factor model has had a history of identifying potential alpha.”

Discreet annual calendar performance (%)

Source: FE Fundinfo. In US dollars.

Meanwhile, the Schroders fund was expected to do well especially last year, given its outright focus on growth and quality.

“Quality names have done well last year, and growth and tech stocks also benefited the fund’s returns. So you are going to see that outperformance from Schroders clearly last year,” Poole said.

He added that the quality bias of the fund has helped it deliver more consistent returns, even during volatile periods.

In terms of volatility, Poole believes that both strategies have similar volatility profiles.

“Asian equities in general tend to have a much higher volatility than developed and global equities.”

Three-year annualised volatility

Source: FE Fundinfo. In US dollars.

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