Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) has a high yield (c 6%) and a focus on achieving total returns from a portfolio spread across the Asia Pacific region, including India and Australia. While it has no official benchmark, it has outperformed the FTSE AW Asia Pacific ex Japan index over three of the last four discrete years to 30 June. The bottom-up portfolio aims to achieve a balance of dividend yield and dividend growth, with modest gearing in place and the ability to enhance income through selective option writing. Demand for the fund has been strong and it has issued 2.2m shares so far in 2015 to manage the premium to NAV.
