The firms vying to be the 'Asian Nutmeg': Prusik taps into ASEAN financials story

The firms vying to be the new Nutmeg

The ‘financialisation' of ASEAN markets could be the region's next big trend, as middle-class consumers demand Nutmeg-style investment platforms they can access through their phones, according to Prusik.

Prusik Investment Management co-founder and CIO Heather Manners (pictured) has positioned herself to tap in to this theme in the group's Asia and Asian Smaller Companies funds. She has restructured the portfolios "quite dramatically" since last year, decreasing the number of holdings in the small-cap fund from 50 stocks to 40, and increasing the conviction weightings in both funds so they have a shorter ‘tail' of small positions. Manners uses a thematic investment approach, which sees her aiming to identify key trends across ASEAN markets. On the financialisation theme, the manager...