Fund of the week: A good time to get into Asia

Emerging-market investors should snap up this successful Asian-focused fund, trading at a hefty discount.

Emerging markets have had a tough year, amid fears the US Federal Reserve may stop printing quite as much money. It's also been a year of upheaval for the Asian Total Return Investment Company (LSE: ATR).

Previously the Henderson Asian Growth Investment Trust, in March its board switched managers to Schroders, due to poor performance.

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Parbrook and Fuei Lee are firmly at the investing coalface, respectively based in Hong Kong and Singapore. The trust aims to deliver a high rate of total return (so including both income and capital gains) through investing in stocks in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan). The annual management charge is 0.9%.

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Before the switch to Schroders, the trust traded at a discount to net asset value (in other words, the share price was below the value of the underlying assets), notes Walters.

However, after the change, the discount narrowed markedly and the trust even traded at a premium briefly. It now trades at a 2.7% discount, which looks a good entry point for anyone looking for long-term exposure to Asian equities, reckons Walters.

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