Invesco Asia trust puts cash to work in China

Acknowledges challenges of country

Fiona Yang and Ian Hargreaves, managers of the £251.7m Invesco Asia trust, have moved to net debt this year after holding cash in 2021, as they are finding more opportunities in China, a country they acknowledge as difficult, but see as trading cheaply compared to its history.

According to the fund's factsheet for the end of May, the fund held 1.4% gearing. This compares to a 3-4% position in cash in April last year. "It is not like we feel like the whole region is really cheap right now, which would push us to want to take a lot of gearing," said Hargreaves. He acknowledged that making a call on China, particularly for global managers, is "very difficult", but added that the trust has a three-year time horizon, so for him, it was less challenging. That being said, the Covid-19 situation has been one of the factors that has held the managers back from bu...