Price and performance

Performance

^ The value of the underlying assets held in the Company, minus any debts of the Company.

* The MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index covers developed markets: Hong Kong and Singapore; and emerging markets: China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. More information on what an index is, is provided in the section titled “Comparing performance”, below.

** The MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index covers smaller companies in developed markets: Hong Kong and Singapore; and emerging markets: China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. More information on what an index is, is provided in the section titled “Comparing performance”, below.

These figures refer to the past. The Company’s past performance is not a reliable indicator of how well the Company is likely to do in the future. For investors based in countries with currencies other than GBP, any increase or decrease in the value of your investment in the Company may increase or decrease as a result of changes in the exchange rate. Performance figures have been calculated since the Company was launched. Performance data is calculated on what we call a net basis by deducting fees incurred at the fund level (e.g. the management and administration fee) and other costs charged to the fund (e.g. transaction and custody costs). Income reinvested is included after on a net of tax has been deducted.

Source: First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited.

Comparing performance

The Company provides you with three ways of comparing how the money you invest in the Company would have performed if you had invested it in three other ways.

1. Since 1 September 2021 the Directors have used the Morgan Stanley Capital International AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index as its primary comparator. An index, or benchmark as it is sometimes called, gives our clients something against which they can compare the performance of the Company. This index has been chosen because the type or size of the companies included in the index most closely represent the way in which the Company is likely to invest. The index is not used to limit how we invest, nor is it a target set for the Company’s performance. This Index is made up of smaller Asian companies (excluding Japan). The range does not exactly match that of the Company, which has no lower limit on the value of companies in which it can invest, and which invests mainly in companies with a value of under US$5,000m at the time the Company first invests in that company. Nevertheless, it gives a useful indication of the performance of smaller listed companies in Asia over recent years.
2. For comparison purposes, we are also displaying the Morgan Stanley Capital International AC Asia ex Japan Index to measure the Company’s performance, which covers the same market as the Company invests in, with the exception of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This index, or performance comparison, which is dominated by larger companies than the Company invests in, is far from ideal as a comparison tool. It is, however, both the most widely recognised local index and also pre-dates the Company, which was formed in March 1995, so we are able to use it to provide a comparison against the Company’s performance for the whole of the Company’s life. 
3. Lastly, the performance comparison shows how much the share price has increased over the relevant time frames shown.