Eastspring Investments, part of Prudential plc won two award categories in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023. With Eastsprings Investment teams’ deep understanding of Asian markets paired with their global expertise, this has proven to be an advantage for them in Asia.
Smart Investor interviews the head of investments, Doreen Choo to find out more about their winning funds.
Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?
Doreen Choo: We are genuinely happy. 2021 was a tough year for everyone in the industry and we are ecstatic that two of our funds were accorded awards at the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023. Both funds have consistently won these awards in the past and it speaks about the caliber of our fund management team and the consistent performance of our core funds.
SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?
DC: The challenges we have faced in the past 12 months are mostly due to the fact that market conditions were volatile. While at the same time, due to movement restrictions, we were unable to have face to face meetings with a lot of our investee companies. Online meetings did help to alleviate some of that, but on the ground, site visits are still the best way to get a deeper understanding of the companies we invest in and the prevailing market sentiment.
SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?
DC: We see that investors are diversifying their products into global equity funds and within this global equity space, there is growing interest in ESG or sustainability theme investments. These range from general sustainable funds, and climate-related funds to the latest impact investing funds.
While China markets have been volatile, we do believe that this is an area where investors are watching closely. Given the long-term potential of the market, as well as the current fallback of the market, it has also presented market opportunities for investors who have a longer-term view. The other area of interest will also be tech-related theme investments as how we work, live and play have also been changed by technology and as such, this is also a theme to watch out for.
