JPM ASEAN Equity A (acc) USD

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|19/04/2024

by Hunter Beaudoin
JPMorgan ASEAN remains our top choice for ASEAN exposure thanks to its exceptional management team, extensive analytical resources, and well-structured investment approach. We retain its People and Process ratings at High.

Lead manager Pauline Ng has developed a deep expertise in ASEAN equities during her 23 years in the industry. She has recently taken on additional responsibilities as comanager of JPM Emerging Markets Social Advancement since July 2023, although we feel the additional workload is manageable given the backing analytical support from the 137-member emerging-markets and Asia-Pacific team. We remain confident in her ability to effectively manage this portfolio and her team of four country specialists, three of whom are comanagers here: Desmond Loh, Stacey Neo, and Chang Qi Ong. This ASEAN team has consistently exhibited strong teamwork and a synergistic working dynamic at our review discussions. They operate within a spiderweb structure under Ng's leadership, promoting cross-coverage of the investment universe and reducing key-person risk.

The investment process is well-codified and has demonstrated clear success through multiple market cycles. Building on the EMAP team's strategic classification framework, prospective holdings are further categorized based on their target holding period by the ASEAN country specialists. The team’s intimate familiarity with local markets facilitates the capturing of investment opportunities down the market-cap spectrum, providing an edge. The portfolio's active share remains one of the lowest in its Morningstar Category, reflecting the team's heightened risk awareness amidst the prolonged macroeconomic headwinds in the region. We anticipate an eventual return to its historical average of around 40% under more normalized market conditions.

Ng has established a solid long-term track record with this strategy. Since she became lead manager in January 2009, the Hong Kong unit trust's (acc) - USD share class has delivered an annual return of 8.30% per year, outpacing the Morningstar ASEAN TME Index category benchmark by 17 basis points while ranking in the 40th percentile of ASEAN equity peers.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™Our high-conviction pick for ASEAN equity exposure.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PeopleHigh
ParentAbove Average
ProcessHigh
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
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