Fidelity Asian Values outperforms with contrarian small-cap strategy

Fidelity

Fidelity Asian Values plc (LON:FAS) managers, Nitin Bajaj and Ajinkya Dhavale, are willing to be contrarian when building their portfolio of predominantly smaller companies from the bottom up, leading to a trust that often looks and performs very differently to both the index and peer group.

They has delivered very strong outperformance, with the trust notably ahead over five years, despite periods of volatility, and even more so over ten years, with NAV returns over 50 percentage points higher than the benchmark. The benefit of FAS’s contrarian strategy was most evident in late 2024 and early 2025, with the overweight to China, driven by stock selection, gaining from strong performance of Chinese equities over that period. Furthermore, the underweight allocation to India, where the managers struggled to find high-quality companies at attractive valuations, helped relative performance during a period when Indian equities underwent a significant correction.

Further aiding the alpha potential is the trust’s Gearing facility. The managers use derivatives to enhance exposure to their highest conviction positions. Furthermore, the ability to short stocks offers the potential to benefit from falling share prices.

The trust’s share price has also performed well over the past few months. This caused the trust’s Discount to narrow, with it currently being the narrowest in the three-strong Asia Pacific Smaller Companies sector, although this has moved around following the volatility of the US tariffs announcements.

Another notable feature of FAS is the charging structure. This includes a variable element that is designed to return something to shareholders in the event that the managers should underperform their reference index.

Fidelity Asian Values Plc (LON:FAS) provides shareholders with a differentiated equity exposure to Asian Markets. Asia is the world’s fastest-growing economic region and the trust looks to capitalise on this by finding good businesses, run by good people and buying them at a good price.

Share on:
Find more news, interviews, share price & company profile here for:

Fidelity Asian Values reports 17% share price rise over 12 months 

The Trust’s NAV rose 12.4% over the 12 months to 31 July 2025, ahead of the index at 7.1%, with the share price up 17.0%. Stock selection was the key driver of relative performance, with holdings in China and Hong Kong adding value, while overweight exposure to Indonesia detracted.

Fidelity favours investing in Chinese small and mid-cap companies (LON:FAS)

Fidelity Asian Values Investment Director Himalee Bahl highlights the Trust’s disciplined value-focused approach amid market uncertainty. By targeting undervalued small and mid-cap companies across China, Indonesia, and South Korea, the Trust avoids momentum-driven areas such as AI-related stocks in Taiwan and expensive Indian small caps.

Fidelity Asian Values significantly outperforms its index over 1 year (LON:FAS)

Over the 12 months to 30 June 2025, the Trust’s NAV rose 4.9%, outperforming its reference index which fell 0.1%, while the share price gained 6.9%. Stock selection was the key driver, with contrarian positions in China and Australia and picks in materials and consumer staples adding value, though an overweight in Indonesian small caps detracted.

Fidelity Asian Values gains on significant China exposure (LON: FAS)

The Trust’s NAV rose by 1.8% for the 12 months to 31 May 2025, outperforming its reference index, which declined 0.6%. Strong stock selection, particularly in China, materials, and technology, contributed to gains, while overweight positions in Indonesian small caps detracted.

Fidelity Asian Values outperforms with contrarian small-cap strategy

Discover how Fidelity Asian Values plc (LON:FAS) leverages a contrarian approach to invest in smaller Asian companies, driving substantial returns and outperforming benchmarks.

Asia investment trust maintains China, Indonesia, Australia overweight versus index

Discover Fidelity Asian Values plc's April 2025 insights, highlighting strategic investments in China, Hong Kong, and emerging markets for superior returns.

Search

Search