Funds from Fullterton, Goldman Sachs and Alliance Bernstein were among the best performing Asia ex-Japan strategies of the first half of 2024, according to data compiled from FE fundinfo.
After starting the year with a slight correction, Asian equities have powered ahead, driven by strong performance from the region’s large chipmakers, as well as Indian and Chinese stocks.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index delivered a return of 9.9%% in the first half of the year, albeit slightly below the returns from the broader MSCI World index.
Despite the strong gains in the Asian equity market, only a quarter of the Asia ex-Japan strategies available for distribution in Hong Kong and/or Singapore are ahead of the wider benchmark.
Below are the top 20 Asia ex-Japan strategies based on their performance for the first half of the year*.
| Fund | H1 return (%) | ISIN Code |
| Fullerton Asia Absolute Alpha | 24.36 | LU0979878070 |
| BEA BEA Union Investment Asia Strategic Growth Fund | 20.7 | HK0000065091 |
| Fullerton VPICA | 18.34 | KYG3691E1263 |
| Goldman Sachs Asia Equity Growth & Income | 17.51 | LU0051129079 |
| H&A DB PWM II GIS Asia ex Japan Portfolio | 17.18 | LU0302981872 |
| AB Asia Ex Japan Equity Portfolio | 16.91 | LU0469270366 |
| iShares S&P Asia 50 ETF | 16.58 | US4642884302 |
| CIM Dividend Income | 16.32 | IE00BYXW4535 |
| Matthews Asia Innovative Growth | 15.85 | LU2298459939 |
| MS INVF Sustainable Asian Equity | 15.71 | LU0034260769 |
| Baillie Gifford Worldwide Asia Ex Japan | 15.61 | IE00BKYBTW37 |
| JOHCM Asia ex Japan | 15.2 | IE00B3ZQS767 |
| HSBC GIF Asia Ex Japan Equity | 14.81 | LU0043850808 |
| UOB United China India Dynamic Growth | 14.41 | SG9999006597 |
| HSBC GIF Asia Ex Japan Equity Smaller Companies | 14.4 | LU0082770016 |
| Mirae Asset ESG Emerging Asia ex China Equity | 13.9 | LU0336300859 |
| Mirae Asset ESG Asia Sector Leader Equity | 13.53 | LU0336299580 |
| LO Asia High Conviction | 13.51 | LU1480990065 |
| Maybank All-Weather Quantitative | 13.25 | SGXZ87642013 |
| Mirae Asset ESG Asia Sector Leader Equity | 13.09 | LU0336299408 |
The best performer was the $204m Fullterton Asia Absolute Alpha fund, with a return of 24.4% over the period.
Although it focuses on Asia-listed stocks, it has the flexibility to invest in companies that just derive a portion of their revenue from the Asia Pacific region.
This explains much of the fund’s outperformance, as it benefitted from large positions in American semiconductor firms Nvidia and Broadcom.
However, its large stakes in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and South Korean semiconductor firm SK Hynix also contributed. Both companies were up over 60% for the first half year.
Another top performer was the $417m AB Asia Ex Japan Equity Portfolio run by Alliance Bernstein’s Stuart Rae and Lily Zheng, which was up 16.9% over the period.
This fund also benefitted from its large positions in Asian semiconductor firms, most notably TSMC, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
However, it also benefitted from its larger allocation towards Chinese equities, which experienced a slight rebound in the first half of the year.
At the end of last month, the fund’s China exposure stood at 37.6%, more than double digits greater than the 24.1% exposure to China from the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index.
One passive strategy also featured in the list above, notably the $1.6bn iShares S&P Asia 50 ETF, which returned 16.6% over the period.
This BlackRock ETF tracks the 50 largest Asian stocks by market capitalisation.
Due to its portfolio construction, with a heavy tilt towards large-caps, it benefitted from its concentration in the region’s biggest companies which all rallied significantly during the first half of the year.
TSMC for example makes up a quarter of the entire fund, followed by chip manufacturing rival Samsung Electronics at 10%, and Chinese tech giant Tencent also at 10%.
*The performance figures are based in US dollars. The data only included funds that fall under the Singapore Mutual or Hong Kong Mutual equity sectors according to FE fundinfo.
