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We are a small team of passionate investors managing, on behalf of our clients, investment funds with a focus on high-quality companies that are well positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development.
Check the latest First Sentier Investors fund price and fund performance, keep track of funds performance and trends to help investment selections.
Achieving gender equity in the corporate world has proved to be a slow and challenging journey. In both developed and emerging markets, women are a minority at both management and board levels. Decades after women began taking on professional and managerial roles, the so-called ‘glass ceiling” appears to be stubbornly persistent.
These Funds seek to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies which both contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development, achieving positive social and environmental sustainable outcomes.
This article focuses on three of the PAIs related to Biodiversity Areas, Emissions to Water, and Hazardous and Radioactive Waste. Each PAI provides details about the measures, some of the challenges related to them, and how investors may use the information they provide.
We examine the characteristics and trend of a well-known measure of quality - Profitability. Firstly, we discuss some of the reasons why it is a useful measure and why it might be persistent through time. It is a strong contributor to alpha, both on the long and short sides.
This has been an unprecedented time which continues to evolve from a markets and Covid-19 perspective. Please tune in to a panel discussion with FSSA’s lead portfolio managers: Alistair Thompson, Director; Martin Lau, Managing Partner andVinay Agarwal, Director.
This has been an unprecedented time which continues to evolve from a markets and Covid-19 perspective. Please tune in to a panel discussion with FSSA’s lead portfolio managers: Alistair Thompson, Director; Martin Lau, Managing Partner andVinay Agarwal, Director.
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) for the European Union Mandates the disclosure of the Principal Adverse Impacts (PAI) that investment decisions have on sustainability factors.
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) requires asset managers to report on up to 20 Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) indicators. PAIs are the negative impacts caused by a firm or an asset on the environment and society.
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.
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.
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.
Trade tensions have continued to rattle the market, as negotiations between China and the US remain mired in strife. The bilateral trade account and the extent of China’s willingness to open up its domestic market are among the primary areas of contention, along with accusations of forced technology transfers and lack of protection on intellectual property rights.
This letter forms the first in a series designed to introduce and explain our approach to sustainability, and the lessons learned so far. We hope that these reflections, drawing on the team’s combined experience, will provide a useful insight.
With Initial Public Offerings in India consistently oversubscribed and valuations peaking, the team discuss their five largest holdings and why now is not the time to sell.
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.
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 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, arguably the most important and widely anticipated event in China’s political diary, took place in mid-October.
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.
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.
This paper outlines the responsible investing approach adopted by various First Sentier Investors investment teams across the globe. It involves a holistic way of thinking that addresses multiple impacts across multiple environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures. We believe it can lead to better long‑term financial and sustainability outcomes, across more measures, than more traditional frameworks.
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.
Head of Asian Fixed Income, Nigel Foo provides an outlook into 2025 for the strategy.
Investors, regulators and markets have an obligation to address modern slavery risks as a key aspect of their ESG obligations.
It has been 40 years since Mr Deng Xiaoping embarked on his ambitious market-based reform program and began to open up China’s economy. Since then, China has been transformed; while there have been stops and starts on the way, China was one of the fastest-growing countries in the world over the past four decades, averaging 10% growth a year.
The China equity market includes a myriad of share classes, each with distinct characteristics. ‘Offshore’ Chinese equities are listed on overseas stock exchanges such as New York and Hong Kong and denominated in foreign currencies, while ‘onshore’ Chinese equities are listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and denominated in RMB.
Learn about investing in the world's fastest growing markets with FSSA Investment Managers. We invest in high quality equities that outperform over the long term.
There is still significant uncertainty around Covid-19 and its potential impact globally. The situation could become worse before it gets better – and no one knows when the bottom will be. So far, China has borne the brunt of the epidemic, with parts of the country in lockdown and business activities in some cities grinding to a complete halt.
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.
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is affecting ever expanding fields of human activity. And the way we invest is no exception. It’s never been more timely for investors, advisors and investment managers to take deep stock of the impacts, real and potential, of AI, so we can better prepare to manage them – whether by leveraging opportunities, managing new risks or, more likely, both.
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.
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.
What if we could find investment opportunities based on how people say things, as much as what they say?
Fund reporting
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.
Global listed infrastructure gained during the March quarter as mounting tariff concerns drove a rotation into defensive assets. The Fund returned +3.1% before fees, compared with a +1.7% return from its benchmark index. Global equities ended the quarter -4.7% lower.
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 eased during the June quarter against a backdrop of US tariff uncertainty and elevated geopolitical tension. The Fund returned -0.1% after fees, compared with a -1.8% return from its benchmark index. Global equities ended the quarter +5.0% higher.
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.
It was recently the 10th anniversary of Lehman’s collapse; and in Hong Kong, warning signal ‘Typhoon No. 10’ had been hoisted, as the biggest hurricane-strength storm in recent history battered its way through the territory.
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.
Corporate culture is a powerful dynamic in a company. It is the set of beliefs and attitudes about the way things are done, and so is a key component of many corporate functions.
Global Listed Infrastructure delivered positive returns during the June quarter, reflecting positive investor sentiment and generally robust fundamentals.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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