Fidelity Asia Fund

For investors seeking long-term growth, the case for investing in Asia today is as strong as ever. Advancing technology and changing populations have been behind much of the economic expansion we’ve seen in Asia. The disruption caused by the global pandemic reminds us that the region can be volatile, and that investors should look to an active approach and an actively managed fund. The Fidelity Asia Fund is one such fund.

Asia – driving global growth

Since the end of the 20th century, Asia has become a powerhouse of global growth. While demographics and digitalisation have fuelled this economic and business expansion, what we’ve seen over the last couple of years is how resilient the economy has been during a period when the global pandemic has shocked global markets and economies. Looking ahead to a post-pandemic world, we believe Asia’s role in driving global growth will continue.

Opportunities in Asia

As the population of Asia continues to grow, we are witnessing widespread changing of lifestyles. Rising levels of income are lifting more and more people out of poverty, and the expansion in the middle-class population is expected to drive significant demand for goods and services in the region. And this boost in spending has led to the creation of giant Asian companies to meet the demand.

The technology scene in Asia is also changing rapidly, and we’ve witnessed a significant rise in digital innovation right across the region. US companies, such as Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, Netflix, and Google, are what investors typically think of when visualising global technology companies.

But Asia also has its own share of world-leading technology companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Chinese internet giants Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. However, investors looking to capitalise on tech innovation and growth in the region need to look beyond established companies – something an active fund manager can do.

Are investors missing out?

Despite the strong economic and demographic trends in this region, many investors own little to no investments that expose them to Asia. Investors can gain exposure either through a tracker fund (also known as passive investing) or an active fund. An actively managed fund gives the fund manager an opportunity to identify higher growth companies which may not be large holdings in a tracker fund.

The Fidelity Asia Fund is one such fund, managed by one of the largest and most experienced teams of analysts in Asia. This is a considerable advantage bearing in mind the many different countries in the region and the vast number of companies available to invest in.

The fund is worth considering if you’re thinking of diversifying your portfolio by investing in companies in Asia. There are also three more funds on the Barclays Funds List which focus on Asia. If you prefer to take an even more ‘general’ exposure to emerging markets, you may also wish to look at funds that invest across the entire global emerging markets space. There are three such funds on the Barclays Funds List. Find out more information on these funds.

Correct at the time of publishing.

To diversify your investment, you may like to consider our own Barclays Ready-made Investments (RMI). The RMI are just one example of a range of diversified funds which allow you to select the level of risk you are most comfortable with. These Barclays multi-asset funds invest in passive funds across a range of asset classes and regions, offering a globally diversified solution for investors. Ready-made Investments are not the only funds that we offer and they won’t be appropriate for everyone.

Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

We don’t offer personal investment advice so if you’re unsure you should seek that independently.

Funds are designed for the long term so you should only consider them if you can stay invested for at least five years.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ.

Read the Assessment of Value report [PDF, 3.2MB] for funds run by Barclays.