Invesco Asia Trust — A patient Asian champion

Invesco Asia Trust (IAT) delivered a 12.4% NAV total return (TR) over the 12 months to end-December 2024, bolstered by the stock market rally in China and Hong Kong (to which IAT’s managers patiently maintained an overweight exposure) on the back of stimulus measures announced by the authorities in September 2024. While IAT’s return is somewhat behind the 14.0% posted by its benchmark, IAT’s share price total return of 15.8% was ahead of it, and the trust maintains a strong mid- and long-term track record of outperforming the market and its peer average. IAT remains positioned to benefit from the consumption growth story of the region via a combination of internet companies, consumer-related businesses (including e-commerce) and financials stocks, among others. The managers also see opportunities across tech and manufacturing, even if they are now cautiously underweight Taiwan on valuation grounds. Finally, their below-benchmark position in Indian equities (which also command high valuations relative to the broader region) is coupled with an overweight exposure to Indonesia, where the managers see an attractive combination of growth prospects and undemanding valuations.