Schroder AsiaPacific aims to generate long-term capital growth from a portfolio of emerging Asian equities. The trust has performed well in recent years, with top quintile returns over three and five-year periods; this has been helped by exposure to the technology and consumer discretionary sectors, which the manager, Matthew Dobbs, believes are benefitting from and shaping secular growth trends. Matthew has run the trust since it was launched in 1995, making him one of the most experienced fund managers in the UK and meaning he has worked through multiple market cycles. He draws on the research of a large team of analysts based on the ground across Asia. The trust has a dividend yield of 1.5% and has grown its dividend in recent years. The managers caution however that there is no guarantee of it being equalled, or increasing, given the fact that capital growth is the priority and revenue reserves relatively low. The trust’s discount has traded between 9% and 13% in recent years and currently sits around the middle of that range; the trust has not conducted buybacks since 2016 although the board does have the authority.
