The cream of the Asian crop

Andrews Gwynne's Mark Smith considers the important factors of Asian investing and highlights portfolios that are making a splash out East

It is assumed that the most common universe investors focus on when looking to invest in Asia is the onshore IMA Asia Pacific excluding Japan sector, which as of February 2008 contained 77 open-ended funds, according to Financial Express. Although there is the IMA Asia Pacific including Japan sector, which currently contains 10 funds, it is assumed most investors tend to think of Japan, and funds investing in the country, independently of the Asia region. This smaller IMA sector will therefore not be discussed here. There are several very important factors to consider when reviewing the s...