First State adds Asia and Emerging Markets funds to offshore range

First State Investments has announced that it introduced two new funds to its offshore product range.

With immediate effect, institutional investors will now be able to invest in the new First State Asia Pacific Select and First State Global Emerging Markets Select Funds. Both funds will be domiciled in Ireland and will be managed by the award-winning Asia Pacific/ Global Emerging Markets equities team, based in Edinburgh and the Far East. These new funds have been launched as alternative investment strategies to the First State Asia Pacific Leaders and Global Emerging Markets Leaders Funds.

The First State Asia Pacific Select Fund will be managed by Alistair Thompson and will be formed of a focused portfolio of larger companies. The fund will use the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index as a benchmark.

The First State Global Emerging Markets Select Fund will be managed by Jonathan Asante and will consist of a similar bottom-up investment strategy, with the same focus on larger companies. The fund will use the MSCI Emerging Markets Index as a benchmark.

Both portfolios will be dollar-denominated and will each have a UK distributor share class. The funds are each expected to be invested in around 50 holdings; only those stocks with attractive liquidity characteristics will be selected.

The two new funds are an extension of the team's existing investment approach and will have significant overlap with our existing Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets funds.

First State has responded to client demand for the introduction of these specific offshore funds, which will offer investors greater choice when investing in Asian and emerging markets products through our current Irish VCC range. Although both funds will initially only be available to institutional investors, the introduction of a retail share class for both funds is planned for later this year.

Gary Withers, Regional Managing Director EMEA, First State Investments said: ‘We believe that the launch of these funds is a logical step that allows us to address capacity constraints within our existing funds and respond to client demand for additional choice and flexibility when investing in our Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets strategies.'