Top Asia manager: Do not ignore decade-low valuations in Korea

Jonathan Pines, manager of the top performing Hermes Asia ex-Japan Equity fund, explains why unloved Korea is his fund's biggest overweight.

With news flow on Asia typically dominated by the tribulations of China, it is often easy for investors to overlook many of the region's other major markets - particularly Korea. Korea and China are very similar from a valuation perspective, with both markets trading at significant discounts relative to history and to other Asian neighbours. Why invest in Korea now? Current valuations for Korean stocks are as cheap as they have been at any point over the past decade, and are much more appealing than expensive ASEAN markets. Korean equities have historically traded at cheap valua...