Abrdn Asian Income Share Discussion Threads

[davebowler] 14/11/2024 13:03

htTPs://www.abrdn.com/en-gb/aaif/news-and-insights/insights/asia-and-the-influence-of-the-us?

[davebowler] 11/11/2024 17:49

Baillie Gifford fund manager opinion-

Qian Zhang: Asia is growing faster than the rest of the world. A lot of these Asian companies are at
the forefront of deep structural global trends. Whether it is technology hardware produced by Asian
companies, or natural resources that are found in Asia, but are essential for global green transition,
all of these are great growth opportunities for long-term investors to explore.
Samsung is a Korean technology conglomerate. What is in common among a smartphone, a
personal laptop, electric vehicle and a computer datacentre? All of them could have Samsung
products in them. One of the very key themes for the next decade is the promise of AI. The story is
gradually shifting from what we call a computing AI to what we call consumer AI. That means
getting your devices ready for AI, getting the chips and the applications installed, and that could lift
a whole upgrade cycle for consumer electronics. It could be more significant than the first
introduction of the smartphones themselves 15 years ago.

[davebowler] 08/11/2024 08:56

Sister fund


free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

[davebowler] 07/11/2024 09:06

Such a contrast with HFEL. Puzzling.

[davebowler] 05/11/2024 11:18

Small mention here...HTTps://www.ajbell.co.uk/articles/investmentarticles/281654/revealed-investment-trusts-yielding-45-or-more

[davebowler] 31/10/2024 09:54

29 Oct NAV abrdn Asian Income Fund Limited Undiluted Including Income

247.92p

[davebowler] 24/10/2024 10:33

Fund managers’ report
Market and portfolio review
Asian markets posted decent returns in September, supported by the start of
the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy easing cycle but with most of the gains
occurring in the last few trading days of the month, largely driven by a sharp
rally in China. The Fed cut its policy rates on 18 September, opening a window
for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to implement a more aggressive and
coordinated monetary policy combination, including rate cuts and lending
facilities for equity purchases and buybacks. This was reinforced by a Politburo
meeting on 26 September following which we saw a loosening of housing
policies. Stocks in Thailand also outperformed the region as the government
initiated some economic stimulus policies. In India, the market was flat and
underperformed despite the World Bank raising its full-year GDP forecast for
the country. Taiwan also ended the month flat while the Korean market was
one of the few across the region to remain in negative territory, continuing its
volatile trend this year.
In corporate news from our holdings, China’s Autohome announced that
it has decided to pursue a US$200 million (£150 million) share repurchase
programme over the next 12 months. Together with annual dividends, it brings
Autohome’s annual shareholder return up to a decent 13.7%.
In terms of portfolio activity in September, we initiated a new position in China
Construction Bank (CCB) the second-largest state-owned enterprise (SOE)
bank in China, with a strong and stable retail deposit base and low funding
costs. Its retail book is heavily weighted to lower-risk mortgages with some
skew towards infrastructure loans. Within state-owned banks, CCB has its
advantages in retail deposit and mortgages. Along with prudent management,
CCB continues to stand out as a relatively better player.

Conversely, we exited our holding in Auckland International Airport in view of
better opportunities elsewhere.
Outlook
As we head into the final months of 2024, we’ve seen stocks across Asia
rebound on the back of the Fed’s rate cut and China’s fresh stimulus. The
question now is whether the Chinese authorities follow through with fiscal
measures aimed at boosting the demand side and reviving consumer
sentiment and consumption. Other key areas of focus would include rising
geopolitical risks in the Middle East, where Iran’s missile strike has increased the
risk of a broader escalation, with direct conflict between Iran and Israel now
more likely. Oil prices have spiked in response to the fragile and rapidly evolving
situation, and we are monitoring developments closely. In the US, it remains
a tight race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the run-up to the
5 November presidential election, with the outcome bringing implications
around trade, tariffs and foreign policy to Asia.
Returning to Asia, India continues to be a bright spot given the positive macro
backdrop. Valuations remain full, but we continue to see opportunities from
a selective bottom-up approach in high quality companies benefitting from
structural tailwinds. We are also positive about the longer-term outlook of
the technology sector, albeit sentiment across the tech supply chain has
weakened because of concerns about the risk of a US recession and weakness
in the smartphone and PC segments. Longer term, we see structural growth in
generative artificial intelligence (AI), which might mean multi-year structural
demand for data centre content and infrastructure upgrades, boding well for
the advanced semiconductor sector.
We continue to believe that Asia remains home to some of the highest quality
and most dynamic companies in the world. The region continues to offer
rich pickings, underpinned by long-term structural growth trends such as the
rising middle classes, rapid adoption of emerging technologies and continued
urbanisation, enabling bottom-up stock pickers like us to deliver sustainable
returns over the long term.
We have continued to tighten the quality characteristics of our portfolio,
introducing and adding to names with greater near-term earnings visibility
and steady cash flow generation, while actively reducing and exiting names
where earnings are less visible. More broadly, we maintain our conviction in our
holdings and their ability to navigate the various crosswinds buffeting markets,
given their quality and fundamentals, which we believe will deliver good
dividends for shareholders over the long run.

[davebowler] 23/10/2024 10:41

21 Oct NAV abrdn Asian Income Fund Limited Undiluted Including Income 256.64p

[essentialinvestor] 01/10/2024 07:35

We are motoring, not before time.

[davebowler] 23/9/2024 09:12

Fund managers’ report
Market and portfolio review
Asian equities closed flat in August in sterling terms following a volatile start
to the month. Global markets fell sharply following the US Federal Reserve’s
decision to keep rates unchanged, triggering recession concerns, and an
unwinding of yen carry trades after the Bank of Japan’s rate increase and a
sharp rise in the yen. Subsequently, however, markets rebounded thanks to
more reassuring economic news in the US and growing hopes of a soft landing
for its economy, while most Asian currencies rose against the US dollar.
Across the region, Southeast Asia outpaced North Asia and India. Indonesia,
one of the most rate-sensitive stock markets in Asia, was boosted by rising
expectations of Fed policy easing, while Thai stocks rose on better-thanexpected GDP growth. In North Asia, stocks in Hong Kong outperformed their
peers in mainland China, as more resilient earnings lifted internet names and
high-yielding stocks drew interest. The gains in mainland China were more
modest following mixed economic data. Meanwhile, the market in Korea was a
key laggard as memory stocks were weighed down partially by concerns over
Nvidia’s revenue guidance. Indian stocks also underperformed on the back of
soft quarterly earnings and GDP growth that reached its lowest in five quarters.
There were positive reports from a number of our holdings in August,
especially in the financial sector. Hong Kong-based insurer AIA announced
positive interim figures which showed the business remains strong, with
good momentum in its key Chinese market. The company set itself a new
operating profit after tax target over three years and the interim dividend
was raised by 5% with a further US$2 billion (£1.53 billion) allocated to its
share buyback scheme. Second-quarter results from Singapore banking





group DBS were again easily the best out of the country’s three main banks.
The performance was driven by a stable net interest margin, strong fees and
resilient asset quality. The dividend was maintained and the outlook for the
group was positive with expectations of mid-to-high single digit full-year profit
growth. CEO Piyush Gupta announced that he will be retiring and DBS’ head
of institutional banking, Tan Su Shan, will take over. She’s already proven to be
competent, and we don’t anticipate any significant change in strategy in the
short term.
Meanwhile in Australia, both Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and
National Australia Bank (NAB) posted decent results. For CBA, the main
positives were less pressure on profit margins and good growth in the balance
sheet. NAB saw similar underlying trends with strong loan growth and an
improving net interest margin. Also in Australia, mining giant BHP reported
better-than-expected free cashflow for the year to June and announced an
unchanged final dividend.
Elsewhere, Chinese internet group Tencent reported second-quarter growth
in online gaming revenue along with net profits which comfortably beat
expectations. The latter was mainly due to a higher share of profits from
associates, which is likely to include PDD, and lower taxes. Second-quarter
net profit at Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Accton Technology was
ahead of consensus. The gross profit margin was slightly lower than expected
but is forecast to improve in the second half of the year
In terms of portfolio activity in August, we exited our holding in Keppel
Infrastructure Trust in view of better opportunities elsewhere.
Outlook
September has historically been a difficult month for markets, and the first few
days have borne that out. Technology stocks have turned volatile again, after a
sharp drop in Nvidia’s share price and renewed concerns over AI-related stock
valuations. Geopolitics simmer in the background, as it appears a dead heat
for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris heading into the US presidential elections
in November. At the same time, US rate cut expectations are rising, which
is likely to support investor appetite in Asia as the US-Asia yield differential
narrows. Market sentiment is likely to remain volatile over the short term against
a still-uncertain backdrop, and we have continued to tighten the quality
characteristics of our portfolio, introducing and adding to names with greater
near-term earnings visibility and steady cash flow generation, while actively
reducing and exiting names where earnings are less visible. More broadly, we
maintain our conviction in our holdings and their ability to navigate the various
crosswinds buffeting markets, given their quality and fundamentals, which we
believe will deliver good dividends for shareholders over the long run.

[ih_538656] 18/9/2024 10:28

Added a few.

[essentialinvestor] 24/8/2024 13:30

Reduction in the management fee is welcome, as is the significant step up in buy backs.

NAV accretion is modest, however every little helps, etc.

[essentialinvestor] 23/8/2024 11:07

Nice divi paid this morning.

[skyship] 20/8/2024 16:05

db - message for you over on the VTA thread...

[davebowler] 19/8/2024 16:41

hTTps://citywire.com/investment-trust-insider/news/james-carthew-abrdn-asian-income-a-solid-way-to-play-asia/a2448345?re=123172&refea=252901&link_id=1688611

[davebowler] 18/8/2024 18:08

Samsung SDI's latest EV battery tech affirms 600-mile range, 20-yr lifespan

[davebowler] 06/8/2024 16:19

5 Aug NAV

Including Income

225.88p

[essentialinvestor] 27/7/2024 11:17

Bought back approx £800,000 worth of shares in just the last week

[davebowler] 16/7/2024 14:19

Its NAV 15/7 , including Income, is 250.66p (Discount to NAV is 12% )
Bonkers when HFEL (Henderson equivalent ) has dropped over 5 years and is at a premium to NAV !!
The higher geared Invesco Asia has done even better than ours but with a lower divi.

[...]

[davebowler] 04/7/2024 08:04

2July NAV Including Income 246.68p
Discount to NAV is 11%

[davebowler] 25/6/2024 16:26

Monthly factsheet

[essentialinvestor] 20/5/2024 12:52

Bought a few more, too cheap v SOI