About Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust

‘Our approach to investing puts long-term investing at the forefront, focussing on high-quality, market-leading companies which will reward investors of the future, irrespective of the wider economic landscape.’
- Vinay Agarwal, Lead Manager

Scottish Oriental

Scottish Oriental is one of the longest running investment trusts that invests in Asian smaller companies.

The team behind Scottish Oriental are FSSA Investment Managers, who specialise in investing in Asia and global emerging markets (i.e. less developed and lower-income parts of the world). The team are headquartered in Hong Kong, and have offices in Singapore, Edinburgh and London.

Our aim

Our aim is to grow your money in the long term, and that hasn’t changed since Scottish Oriental was launched in 1995.

We do this by investing in smaller companies. We view smaller companies as those valued at below US$5bn, or the equivalent, at the time when we first invest, and we believe that the small companies of today could be the market leaders of the future.

Risk factors

Capital at risk. The value of investments and any income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. Investors may get back significantly less than the original amount invested.

Where we invest

We invest in companies in countries including Australasia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and potentially other countries in Asia with approval from our Board.

Our approach

We look to identify quality companies, buy them at a sensible price, and then hold them for the long term.

We aim to generate attractive returns for our investors on an absolute basis, meaning we define risk as the permanent loss of our clients’ capital, rather than returns compared to benchmarks or peers.

We look for the people who founded or are running these companies to act with integrity and be aware of any risks, and we like to find companies dominant in their own sector with the ability to deliver consistent predictable returns for our investors over the long term.

Our investment process

To find good companies, we need good ideas. The most significant source of investment ideas for us comes through company visits. The team behind Scottish Oriental We conduct more than a thousand direct company meetings throughout the year, always looking to detect that small sub-set of quality companies that meet our investment criteria. Clear emphasis is placed on frequent visits to countries in the Asian region and on meeting the management teams of those companies which we invest, or are considering investing, in.

While cultural, political, economic and sectoral influences are a factor in our decision-making process, we try to see beyond the noise to find what we think are the best companies. The availability of attractively-priced, good quality companies with solid long-term growth prospects is the major decider in whether we invest.