Schroder AsiaPacific Fund (SDP)

SDP offers investors exposure to Asian equities (ex-Japan), targeting long-term growth. The fund, managed by Richard Sennitt and Abbas Barkhordar, employs a bottom-up, stock-picking approach, focusing on quality companies that can sustainably generate returns above their cost of capital. This strategy has enabled the fund to outperform the MSCI All Country Asia excluding Japan Index and other developed market indices since its inception in 1995. The trust holds around 60 companies diversified across various countries and sectors.

In this interview, John Hughman speaks to Abbas Barkhordar, co-manager of the company, about its investment strategy and regional opportunities. Abbas explains how the team of analysts based across Asia plays a crucial role in identifying investment opportunities; why the company prioritises companies in financials, technology, and sectors benefiting from structural growth trends, such as semiconductors in Taiwan and Korea - whilst carefully managing geopolitical risks; and why it’s strategically underweight China, focusing on companies there with strong governance and avoiding sectors with excess capital and state control.