Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

March 2026

Overview

We believe that this strategy with its strong focus on quality growth companies might appeal to investors with a long-term horizon. The managers of this fund aim to deliver long-term capital accumulation through a portfolio of primarily large and medium sized Asian companies. Whilst we would expect the fund to deliver strong capital appreciation over the long run, it is exposed to moves in the Asian stock markets and therefore over the short term, it can experience both significant returns as well as substantial losses. Also, for example, this fund can have sizeable exposures in a market, and has a relatively short list of holdings (circa 40 holdings on average in the portfolio in recent years), meaning that such a concentrated approach can yield both feast and famine, and the emphasis on quality growth may not be particularly defensive in market dislocations.

Square Mile’s Expected Outcome

We believe the fund should be able to deliver capital growth over the long term and outperformance of the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Net index +2% p.a. over rolling five-year periods, through investment in sustainable companies.

Square Mile’s Opinion

On the 2nd December, Stewart Investors have renamed their funds as well as removing the word “Sustainability” from the fund titles and for example this fund was previously named Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders Sustainability. They are not intending to apply for the voluntary UK SDR sustainability labels to any of their funds at the present moment. Their investment philosophy and approach remains the same.
Since its launch in 2003, this fund has a strong track record and due to the emphasis on quality, the fund has tended to be resilient when markets have fallen and volatility has increased. However, the strategy can hold (and has) a significant exposure to a market for instance, and such a concentrated approach can yield highly variable results, for good or ill.
For those concerned about some of the real risks of investing in this region, such as the permanent loss of capital that can arise from poor corporate governance, disclosure and transparency, this fund offers investors a more conservative way to access the region and would be better suited to long-term investors. It benefits from a team who have diligently applied their approach through different market conditions. They spend considerable time and effort looking at the quality of a business franchise, its management and financial strength. Furthermore, the team consider governance, social and environmental factors as crucial elements to their process as they believe that good firms are not just built on governance, but also on their social utility. It is important to note that the emphasis of this fund is on sustainable development as the managers are looking to invest in firms that are driving positive change and are leaders in sustainability. They will not exclude companies on the basis of ethical considerations like animal welfare, though they are unlikely to invest in those operating in the tobacco and gambling industries.

Fund Manager’s Formal Objective

The Fund aims to achieve capital growth over the long term (at least five years). The Fund mainly invests in shares of large and mid-sized companies based in or where the majority of their activities take place in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan and that are listed on exchanges worldwide. These companies generally have a total stock market value of at least US$1 billion. The Fund invests in shares of high quality companies which are positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development.

Outcome: Capital Accumulation	Domicile: UK
Active/Passive: Active	Benchmark: MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Net index
Asset Class: Equity	IA Sector: IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan
Yield: 0.94%	Fund size: £4,007M
Fund Manager: David Gait, Sashi Reddy	Distribution Pay Date: March, September
Fund Price: 11.0 Pounds	Dividend Frequency: Semi-annual
Currency of Share Class: GBP	Share Class Launch Date: 01/12/2003
NAV: 11.0 Pounds	Year end: 31/07/2025
Discount/Premium: 0.00%	Gearing: -
Permission to distribute from Capital: -	Fees charged: -

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Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

Asset Manager Overview

The fund is managed by Stewart Investors, an autonomous unit within First Sentier Investors (FSI), and which is responsible for its own investment decisions and recruitment. FSI was acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation in August 2019, which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.

Fund Manager/Team Overview

We believe the overall team is well resourced with analysts and fund managers based in UK and Asia. There is interaction between its members and it is not unusual for staff to make internal transfers across the locations. Many of the senior members of the team have been with the group for over a decade and are well-versed with the intricacies of investment in Asia. This fund's lead manager, David Gait, joined the team in 1997. He has accumulated a wealth of fund management and research experience and has long been involved in encouraging the growth of sustainable investment. Co-manager, Sashi Reddy, who joined the team in 2007, has been working with Mr Gait since then.

Investment Philosophy & Process Overview

This fund's managers seek to preserve and grow investors capital over time by investing in high quality companies run by responsible management teams they can entrust their capital to over the long term. They aim to invest with a minimum time horizon of five years. They measure quality by looking at a company's management team, its franchise and financial strength. However, they also believe that quality companies are stewards of sustainable development, in the sense that they believe that such companies, though by no means perfect, are a cut above others. In essence, these firms, which are driving positive change and are leaders in sustainability, have high governance standards, are good employers and do not take for granted the local community, environment or their licence to operate. Overall, they will measure the quality of these companies by analysing their governance, social and environmental factors, as well as a company's history, management structure and their attitude to shareholders, its business practices, cash flow and valuation.

Contact is deemed critical and the team undertakes a significant number of company meetings. Risk is essentially managed in terms of the potential loss of capital, and not on relative measures such as the monitoring of a portfolio's tracking error. The final portfolio can hold between 30 to 60 stocks on average and is constructed without reference to an index. However, there are formal absolute limits in place at the industry and country levels in order to ensure a sufficient level of diversification. The fund will invest in large and medium-sized companies, and those capitalised below $1 billion are generally avoided. The managers will also tend to stay away from companies involved in the gambling industry and the distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. Whilst the managers prefer to run the fund fully invested, they will allow cash to build up when they are not finding compelling opportunities at acceptable valuations.

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Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

ESG Integration

Fund ESG Integration

This strategy is being managed with an emphasis on sustainable development, as the team are looking for quality companies that contribute to sustainable development and which they believe can make a positive impact to a better sustainable world; as such the team will consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their assessment of the sustainability and quality of companies. Management integrity and their attitude to shareholders are critical, as well as the sustainability of their franchise or business, but so are their execution and interaction with employees, suppliers, and customers alike, as well as the impact of their business activities on the local community and environment. The team do not screen companies on purely ethical or moral reasons, but they are unlikely to invest in companies operating in the gambling and tobacco industries because they consider the long-term sustainability positioning to be poor.

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Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

Responsible Investing Approach

The team considers corporate governance, social and environmental factors as crucial elements of its investment process - as they believe that good companies are not just built on governance, but also on their social utility, such as their impact on society and the environment. As stewards of client capital, they do not believe that there is a price for everything, and so the team will not invest in some companies and sectors for ethical reasons or due to poor culture or past conduct.

Risk Summary

The fund scores high in terms of its asset class risk as it is essentially exposed to developing markets and these can exhibit significant volatility as returns do not only rest on the performance of the underlying companies, but also the macroeconomic and political situations within the region. Pleasingly the fund's risk score is low relative to its peer group. A large body of assets follows this strategy although Stewart Investors' somewhat contrarian and low turnover approach should help mitigate the liquidity issues that this brings. Note that the team seek to be long-term investors and companies are assessed on their own merits and not in comparison with other stocks operating in the region. This is an asset class that can suffer severe drawdowns, and so the team think of risk as the risk of a permanent loss of capital, which can arise from investing in companies with a questionable track record in corporate governance, disclosure and transparency. We think that this is a sensible approach to have when investing in this region, but the concentrated approach can lead to significant positioning as well as performance deviations at times, both on an absolute and relative basis, for good or for ill.

Additional Information

Annualised Return: 4.42%

Annualised Volatility: 9.94%

Max Drawdown: -14.21%

Max Gain: 8.55%

Max Loss: -9.41%

Sharpe Ratio: 0.31

Sortino Ratio: 0.30

(3 years data to last month end unless otherwise stated)

Qualitative Risk Assessment

	Significant	Potentially Significant	Not Significant
Equity Risk
Interest Rate Risk
Credit Risk
Exchange Rate Risk
Liquidity Risk
Emerging Markets Risk
Derivative Risk
Manager Risk
Gearing Risk
Discount/Premium Risk

For the full summary of the risks, click here

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Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

Calendar Year Performance To Quarter End

Period	Fund (%)	Sector (%)
2025	2.6	20.0
2024	6.7	10.4
2023	2.8	-0.1
2022	-9.0	-6.4
2021	12.9	1.9

Value for Money

The fund's total cost of investment (TCI) is attractive relative to its peer group. We see this fund as being good value for money largely because of the quality of the management team and their investment approach. Such attributes are difficult to find. Investors should note that the performance success of this (and other Stewart Investors products) has meant that it has attracted a considerable level of assets and the group have taken steps to restrict flows into some strategies, but this fund remains open to investors. We also like that in July 2015 Stewart Investors took the decision to absorb the costs associated with their research.

OCF v Peer Group

0.84%

Transaction Costs v Peer Group

0.18%

TCI v Peer Group

1.02%

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Stewart Investors APac Leaders Fund B Acc GBP

Rating Changes

The Square Mile ratings are reviewed every 6 months. For full details on the methodologies, click here.
For a full list of all Square Mile rated funds, click here.

Rating Changes over last 12 months	Time & Date rating changed

Disclaimer

This document is issued by Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research Limited which is registered in England and Wales (08791142) and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Titan Wealth Holdings Limited (Registered Address: 101 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1QU).

Unless otherwise agreed by Square Mile, this factsheet is only for internal use by the permitted recipients and shall not be published or be provided to any third parties. This factsheet is for the use of professional advisers and other regulated firms only and should not be relied upon by any other persons. It is published by, and remains the copyright of, Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research Ltd (“SM”). SM makes no warranties or representations regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. This information represents the views and forecasts of SM at the date of issue but may be subject to change without reference or notification to you. SM does not offer investment advice or make recommendations regarding investments and nothing in this factsheet shall be deemed to constitute financial or investment advice in any way and shall not constitute a regulated activity for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. This factsheet shall not constitute or be deemed to constitute an invitation or inducement to any person to engage in investment activity. Should you undertake any investment activity based on information contained herein, you do so entirely at your own risk and SM shall have no liability whatsoever for any loss, damage, costs or expenses incurred or suffered by you as a result. SM does not accept any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistencies herein. Unless indicated, all figures are sourced by LSEG Lipper (all rights reserved). Past performance is not a guide to future returns.

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