Asian Equity Income

Strategy highlights

: Disciplined and sustainable approach, which includes buy and sell yield criteria and consideration of thematic research

Unconstrained, flexible, concentrated portfolio with long-term focus to capture returns via real and sustainable dividends

Harnessing time, consistency of process, and the compounding power of dividends with Asian growth

Our philosophy and process

: The strategy is conviction-based with no sector constraints, and invests primarily in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan.

A constantly evolving and forward-looking approach seeks to anticipate change, manage risk, and identify opportunities.

The strategy seeks high-quality companies offering attractive and sustainable dividend yields, underpinned by strong cash generation. It employs a valuation screen to help portfolios in their aim to achieve a dividend yield above that of the index.

Material and relevant ESG risks, issues and opportunities are considered as part of the investment process.

Every time we consider a security or look at an industry or country, it’s in the context of what’s happening across the world. We believe the investment landscape is shaped over the long term by some key trends, and we use themes to help identify opportunities.

Investment team

Our Asian Equity Income strategy is managed by an experienced team. In-house research analysts are at the core of our investment process, and our multidimensional research platform spans fundamental, thematic, ESG, quantitative, geopolitical, investigative and private-market research to promote better-informed investment decisions.

14: years’ average investment experience
5: years’ average time at Newton

Zoe Kan

Portfolio manager, emerging markets and Asia equities team
Alex Khosla

Portfolio manager, emerging markets and Asia equities team
Paul Birchenough

Co-head emerging markets and Asia equities team
Ian Smith

Co-head emerging markets and Asia equities team
Fei Chen

Research analyst, emerging markets and Asia equities team
Aditya Shah

Research analyst, emerging markets and Asia equities team

Strategy profile

Objective: The strategy seeks to outperform the FTSE AW Asia Pacific ex Japan index by more than 2% per annum over rolling 5-year periods by achieving income and capital growth from a portfolio comprised of companies that must yield at least 85% of the performance benchmark yield, which are predominantly from Asia Pacific markets, including Australia and New Zealand, but excluding Japan.
Performance benchmark: FTSE All World Asia-Pacific ex Japan

Typical number of equity holdings: 40 to 70

Yield discipline: Every new holding must have a prospective yield of at least 85% of the yield achieved by the comparative index. Any holding whose prospective yield falls below a 40% discount to the yield achieved by the index will be sold. On account of liquidity, it may not be possible to dispose of an entire holding immediately.
Strategy size: £0.9bn (as at 31 March 2023)
Strategy inception: Composite inception: 1 September 2005
Strategy available through pooled UK vehicle: BNY Mellon Asian Income Fund

View fund performance
View Key Investor Information Document
View prospectus

Strategy factsheet

Performance and commentary for the last quarter.

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Responsible investment report

Stewardship activities (voting and engagement) for the last quarter and ESG metrics.

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Your capital may be at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the original amount invested.

Newton will make investment decisions that are not based solely on ESG considerations. Those considerations are among many inputs into the fundamental analysis. Other attributes of an investment may outweigh ESG considerations when making investment decisions. The way that material ESG considerations are assessed may vary depending on the asset class and strategy involved. As of September 2022, the research team performs ESG analysis on equity securities prior to their addition to Newton’s Research Recommended List (RRL). ESG reviews are not performed for all fixed income securities. The portfolio managers may purchase equity securities that are not included on the RRL and which do not have ESG reviews. Not all securities held by Newton’s strategies have an ESG review completed prior to investment.

Key investment risks

: Objective/performance risk: There is no guarantee that the strategy will achieve its objectives.

Currency risk: This strategy invests in international markets which means it is exposed to changes in currency rates which could affect the value of the strategy.

Geographic concentration risk: The strategy primarily invests in a single market which may have a significant impact on the value of the strategy.

Derivatives risk: Derivatives are highly sensitive to changes in the value of the asset from which their value is derived. A small movement in the value of the underlying asset can cause a large movement in the value of the derivative. This can increase the sizes of losses and gains, causing the value of your investment to fluctuate. When using derivatives, the strategy can lose significantly more than the amount it has invested in derivatives.

Emerging markets risk: Emerging Markets have additional risks due to less-developed market practices.

Liquidity risk: The strategy may not always find another party willing to purchase an asset that the strategy wants to sell which could impact the strategy’s ability to sell the asset or to sell the asset at its current value.

Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and/or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect (‘Stock Connect’) risk: The strategy may invest in China A shares through Stock Connect programmes. These may be subject to regulatory changes and quota limitations. An operational constraint such as a suspension in trading could negatively affect the strategy‘s ability to achieve its investment objective.

High yield companies risk: Companies with high-dividend rates are at a greater risk of not being able to meet these payments and are more sensitive to interest rate risk.

Concentration risk: A fall in the value of a single investment may have a significant impact on the value of the strategy because it typically invests in a limited number of investments.

Counterparty risk: The insolvency of any institutions providing services such as custody of assets or acting as a counterparty to derivatives or other contractual arrangements, may expose the strategy to financial loss.