The Lemon Fool

Schroder Oriental Income (SOI) have announced a dividend of 5.8p for December, taking the annual total from 11.4p to 11.8p representing an increase of 3.5%

Last year the dividend increased from 10.5p to 11.4p = 8.6%

So, an annual dividend of 11.8p and a current share price of 244.5p giving a dividend yield of 4.8%. This needs to be offset by the YTD fall in price of the shares of 2.9%. In short, very disappointing.

Not so bad if you look at the 10 year.

40% of the fund is in Taiwan, China or Hong Kong. That's quite some concentration, so lets hope there are no wars in that region. Imagine the sanctions, counter sanctions and loss of value that might occur in such a scenario.

For decades, the fund management industry has offered consumers "Asia excluding Japan" funds & indices.

It's about time they had an "Asia excluding China" option for the more risk averse investors. Instead, all the fund management groups are moving in the opposite direction.

jaizan wrote:40% of the fund is in Taiwan, China or Hong Kong. That's quite some concentration, so lets hope there are no wars in that region. Imagine the sanctions, counter sanctions and loss of value that might occur in such a scenario.

For decades, the fund management industry has offered consumers "Asia excluding Japan" funds & indices.

It's about time they had an "Asia excluding China" option for the more risk averse investors. Instead, all the fund management groups are moving in the opposite direction.

Compared to the other Asian Equity Income ITs SOI isn't especially concentrated in these countries:

IAT   59.6%
JAGI  58.5%
SOI   38.4%
HFEL  37.2%
AAIF  34.5%

dundas666 wrote:

jaizan wrote:40% of the fund is in Taiwan, China or Hong Kong. That's quite some concentration, so lets hope there are no wars in that region. Imagine the sanctions, counter sanctions and loss of value that might occur in such a scenario.

For decades, the fund management industry has offered consumers "Asia excluding Japan" funds & indices.

It's about time they had an "Asia excluding China" option for the more risk averse investors. Instead, all the fund management groups are moving in the opposite direction.

Compared to the other Asian Equity Income ITs SOI isn't especially concentrated in these countries:

IAT   59.6%
JAGI  58.5%
SOI   38.4%
HFEL  37.2%
AAIF  34.5%

And the 5 year total returns are (from Hargreaves Lansdown)

IAT   Invesco Asia    45.7%
JAGI  JPMorgan Asia   31.1%
SOI   Schroder Orient 28.5%
HFEL  Hend Far East   -8.9%
AAIF  Abrdn Asian     25.0%

Schroder Orient has done not too badly.
I hold Schroder Asia Pacific (SDP). Its 5 year total return is 35.8%, but it has been a lot more volatile than SOI. It has 45% in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong

dundas666 wrote:Compared to the other Asian Equity Income ITs SOI isn't especially concentrated in these countries

As I see it, the main problem is that ALL of the general Asian equity funds have a significant concentration in greater China.
The pros and cons of investing there are, of course, a matter of opinion.

However, for me, the lack of choice is the problem. The nearest I can get is a few single country investment trusts, such as Vietnam.

Where is the SE Asia investment trust ?
Where is the Asia excluding China trust ? We have had Asia excluding Japan for decades.

It's not an investment trust, but the Jupiter Asian Income OEIC makes a point of not investing in China due to the fund manager's concerns about China's institutional framework.

shawsdale wrote:It's not an investment trust, but the Jupiter Asian Income OEIC makes a point of not investing in China due to the fund manager's concerns about China's institutional framework.

Yes - It has 15.56% in Taiwan and 2.45% in Hong Kong and nothing in China
Its 5 year total return is 52.95% (all figures from Hargreaves Lansdown)

shawsdale wrote:It's not an investment trust, but the Jupiter Asian Income OEIC makes a point of not investing in China due to the fund manager's concerns about China's institutional framework.

Thank you. It's good to know of such options.

I have some resistance to owning OEICs in my portfolio, as there would be additional broker fees for holding those.
Perhaps this is slightly irrational, as I shouldn't dismiss a good investment for an extra 0.5% in fees, but I do.

jaizan wrote:40% of the fund is in Taiwan, China or Hong Kong. That's quite some concentration, so lets hope there are no wars in that region. Imagine the sanctions, counter sanctions and loss of value that might occur in such a scenario.

For decades, the fund management industry has offered consumers "Asia excluding Japan" funds & indices.

It's about time they had an "Asia excluding China" option for the more risk averse investors. Instead, all the fund management groups are moving in the opposite direction.

Another, albeit imperfect, solution is iShares Emerging Markets ex-China ETF. Approx. 70% Asia (balance is LatAm and Africa/ME). Low charges (0.18% pa) and no China (nor Hong Kong which I would classify as China now from a political risk perspective). Significant holdings in Taiwan though. Quite small ETF, not available in all ISAs/SIPPs.

https://www.ishares.com/uk/individual/e ... -ucits-etf