FSSA Investment Managers (FSSA) are specialists in Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets equity strategies. We operate as an autonomous investment team within First Sentier Investors with a team of dedicated investment professionals based in Hong Kong, London and Singapore.
First Sentier Investors, un gestionnaire d'investissement mondial de premier plan, annonce aujourd'hui qu'il fixe ses premiers objectifs en matière de nature en tant qu'adopteur de la Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), à l'approche du sommet inaugural Global Nature Positive Summit organisé à Sydney cette semaine.
In 2025, First Sentier Group published our inaugural integrated Climate and Nature Report — an important milestone in our responsible investment journey.
Concentration in equity markets has reached unprecedented levels. While this has driven remarkable returns for a narrow slice of the market, it raises critical questions about diversification, valuation, and risk for equity investors.
We believe financial markets, critical to society’s ability to function, are under threat. For too long, it has been widely accepted that short-term performance, growth, risks and financial returns should be maximised at the expense of environmental and social outcomes.
FSSA India webcast focus on the India Subcontinent Markets and Asia Pacific equities
Given its size and influence, China remains a key investment destination despite ongoing trade disputes and diplomatic tensions with the US and Australia. With a GDP equivalent to around 70% of the United States, many global portfolios continue to feature Chinese equities.
Leveraging our recent paper, ‘Reducing carbon intensity in portfolios: Better news than you think’, which analysed the investment impact of reducing carbon exposure versus the benchmark; we turn our attention to how we can reduce carbon risk in our Value strategies. This aligns with our commitment to reducing carbon exposure across our strategies.
Our recent paper on Extreme Concentration focussed on the US (and so Developed Markets). This was the natural as the central issue of concentration was among the top 10 stocks in the US, among them, the “Magnificent 7”.
The cascading impacts of climate change and society’s overexploitation of the land and sea is giving rise to unprecedented devastation of nature and biodiversity. In the last 50 years, there has been a devastating 69% drop in wildlife populations[1]. The unfolding crisis is risking the very foundations of our economy, society and life itself, impacting humankind’s food security and access to clean water and air.
What if we could find investment opportunities based on how people say things, as much as what they say?
Mergers and acquisitions activity within the global listed infrastructure asset class has been strong in 2025 and looks set to continue.
Dialling down carbon intensity in portfolios could have less of an impact on risk and return than some might think, but the impact will vary depending on the sectors, styles and regions investors are weighted towards. Globally oriented investors can potentially reduce carbon intensity with a small addition of tracking error, but those wanting to address carbon intensity with a high exposure to Australian stocks might find it more difficult.
Head of Asian Fixed Income, Nigel Foo provides an outlook into 2025 for the strategy.
The global political economy is rapidly evolving. The rules, norms and institutions that govern interactions between nation states are being upended, and the nature of capitalism is changing again. Having evolved in the past from laissez‑faire to Keynesianism to free market neoliberalism, it is now turning to nationalism with more state intervention.
In September 2023, I met more than 30 global listed infrastructure companies and stakeholders from the UK, Europe and China. The following travel diary summarises my impressions and findings from these meetings.
Recently I attended the largest US utility conference, the 2024 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Financial Conference, in Hollywood, Florida. I met with management teams from 26 regulated electric and gas utility companies.
2021 will be a year of recovery. This is not surprising given last year’s economic downturn. If vaccines are being rolled out gradually during the year, we believe the economy will recover, especially those sectors that have been hit hard like travel. Hong Kong’s travel sector declined by 99.9% last year so there really isn’t much room left to decline.
Last quarter I visited infrastructure companies in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. The trip included visits to ten corporate head offices and three site tours. This paper seeks to share some of the key findings from my meetings with Japanese passenger rail and utility companies.
There were a number of structural trends leading up to the Covid pandemic that were all very well understood. And the pandemic has given rise to some newer emerging trends. And what is central to the majority of these trends is the rapid advancement and continued adoption of technology which is driving societal change.
The quant winter was a two‑year period from 2018 to 2020 when quant funds underperformed. This was largely a Developed Markets effect, with Australia also affected, and Emerging Markets showed a different profile (shorter and sharper)
2024 was a year marked by global inflation and economic growth concerns against a backdrop of worldwide elections. As we head into 2025, volatility will remain an enduring constant.
Global Listed Infrastructure delivered strongly positive returns during the September quarter, aided by robust quarterly earnings numbers and the US Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut since 2020.
Global Listed Infrastructure delivered positive returns during the June quarter, reflecting positive investor sentiment and generally robust fundamentals.
Airports have seen phenomenal traffic growth as people prioritise travel and experiences in the face of cost‑of‑living pressures.
Over the last decade the electricity sector has been at the forefront of decarbonisation, ahead of transport, industry and agriculture.
This paper asserts that macro towers will remain at the heart of a modern, mobile data communications network despite the continual development of new technologies.
After decades of flat electricity demand for US utilities, the industry is now seeing unprecedented demand as growth in data centers / AI, electrification, onshoring and electric vehicles outweighs energy efficiency gains. One utility executive stated: “Seeing all these customers wanting 24/7 load and willing to pay for it – it is every utility’s dream”.
Global listed infrastructure underperformed in 2023 owing to rising interest rates and a shift away from defensive assets. Relative valuations are now at compelling levels. Infrastructure assets are expected to see earnings growth in 2024 and beyond, aided by structural growth drivers.
2024 was a good year for global listed infrastructure. Strong earnings for energy midstream and a step-change in the earnings growth outlook for utilities helped the asset class to shrug off rising bond yields and political uncertainty.
Concentration in equity markets has reached unprecedented levels, particularly in the United States. A select few mega-cap stocks, colloquially referred to as the "Magnificent 7," now dominate market indices, reflecting a convergence of technological innovation, speculative enthusiasm, and the allure of generative AI.
Global listed infrastructure gave up ground in the December quarter as a 78 basis-point increase in US 10-year bond yields weighed on interest rate-sensitive assets.
Global listed infrastructure gained during the June quarter as market sentiment remained positive, despite a backdrop of US tariff uncertainty and elevated geopolitical tension. The Fund returned +5.2% before fees, compared with a +4.3% return from its benchmark index.
Global listed infrastructure gained during the March quarter as mounting tariff concerns drove a rotation into defensive assets. The Fund returned +2.5% after fees, compared with a +0.5% return from its benchmark index.
It’s hard not to react to what the markets are doing. It can be tempting to sell out of certain asset classes or follow the herd to the ‘next best thing’ but fortune favours the patient investor.
The energy crisis in Europe has boosted global demand for LNG. Global listed infrastructure companies pioneered the US LNG industry, investing US$50 billion since 2010. The energy crisis is providing an opportunity for LNG to secure its role as a transition fuel. With reliability and security of supply increasingly front of mind, US LNG exporters stand to gain market share, underpinning a further US$50 billion of investment over the next decade. An increased need for natural gas infrastructure will also benefit the broader North American midstream sector.
Conventional economic theory assumes individuals are perfectly rational in their decision making under uncertainty. This is usually known as expected utility theory. It is different to prospect theory, which represents more how people actually behave (“irrationally”?) rather than how they are expected to behave.
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