Platinum Asia aims to provide capital growth over the long-term by investing in undervalued companies in the Asian region excluding Japan. The Fund primarily invests in the listed securities of Asian companies. Asian companies may list their securities on securities exchanges other than those in Asia and the Fund may invest in those securities.
The Fund invests in primarily global fixed income securities and debt obligations of government and government related and corporate issuers worldwide. The Fund can also invest in securities linked to assets and currencies of any nation, as well as derivatives.
A professionally managed active portfolio seeking to maximise total investment returns through an unconstrained approach to security selection, duration positioning and currency exposure.
A fundamental research-driven investment approach that integrates global macroeconomic analysis with in-depth country research to identify and exploit long-term economic imbalances.
What is Platinum Asia Platinum Asia is an Managed Funds investment product that is benchmarked against Developed -World Index and sits inside the Foreign Equity - Long Short Index. Think of a benchmark as a standard where investment performance can be measured. Typically, market indices like the ASX200 and market-segment stock indexes are used for this purpose. The Platinum Asia has Assets Under Management of 5.21 BN with a management fee of 1.35%, a performance fee of 0 and a buy/sell spread fee of 0.4%.
How has the investment product performed recently? The recent investment performance of the investment product shows that the Platinum Asia has returned 12.53% in the last month. The previous three years have returned 1.96% annualised and 13.9% each year since inception, which is when the Platinum Asia first started.
How is risk measured in this investment product? There are many ways that the risk of an investment product can be measured, and each measurement provides a different insight into the risk present. They can be used on their own or together to perform a risk assessment before investing, but when comparing investments, it is common to compare like for like risk measurements to determine which investment holds the most risk. Since Platinum Asia first started, the Sharpe ratio is NA with an annualised volatility of 13.9%. The maximum drawdown of the investment product in the last 12 months is -5.23% and -32.28% since inception. The maximum drawdown is defined as the high-to-low decline of an investment during a particular time period.
What is the relative performance of the investment product? Relative performance is what an asset achieves over a period of time compared to similar investments or its peers. Relative return is a measure of the asset's performance compared to the return to the other investment. The Platinum Asia has a 12-month excess return when compared to the Foreign Equity - Long Short Index of 2.82% and 1.64% since inception.
Does the investment product produce Alpha over its Peers? Alpha is an investing term used to measure an investment's outperformance relative to a market benchmark or peer investment. Alpha describes the excess return generated when compared to peer investment. Platinum Asia has produced Alpha over the Foreign Equity - Long Short Index of NA% in the last 12 months and NA% since inception.
What are similar investment products? For a full list of investment products in the Foreign Equity - Long Short Index category, you can click here for the Peer Investment Report.
What level of diversification will Platinum Asia provide? Platinum Asia has a correlation coefficient of 0.71 and a beta of 0.77 when compared to the Foreign Equity - Long Short Index. Correlation measures how similarly two investments move in relation to one another. This establishes a 'correlation coefficient', which has a value between -1.0 and +1.0. A 100% correlation between two investments means that the correlation coefficient is +1. Beta in investments measures how much the price moves relative to the broader market over a period of time. If the investment moves more than the broader market, it has a beta above 1.0. If it moves less than the broader market, then the beta is less than 1.0. Investments with a high beta tend to carry more risk but have the potential to deliver higher returns.
How do I compare the investment product with its peers? For a full quantitative report on Platinum Asia and its peer investments, you can click here for the Peer Investment Report.
How do I compare the Platinum Asia with the Developed -World Index? For a full quantitative report on Platinum Asia compared to the Developed -World Index, you can click here.
Can I sort and compare the Platinum Asia to do my own analysis? To sort and compare the Platinum Asia financial metrics, please refer to the table above.
Has the Platinum Asia been independently verified by SMSF Mate? This investment product is in the process of being independently verified by SMSF Mate. Once we have verified the investment product, you will be able to find more information here.
How can I invest in Platinum Asia? 
How do I get in contact with the Platinum Asia? 
Comments from SMSF Mates SMSF Mate does not receive commissions or kickbacks from the Platinum Asia. All data and commentary for this fund is provided free of charge for our readers general information.
Performance Commentary - August 31, 2023 • The Fund returned -4.0% in August and 6.6% for the year.
• Financials, industrials and real estate weighed on monthly performance.
• We are focused on finding businesses that have strong long-term growth prospects with attractive valuations.
Performance Commentary - July 31, 2023 • The Fund returned 4.8% in July and 12.6% over the year.
• The return was driven by strong contributions from consumer discretionary, information technology and industrials.
• We are focused on finding businesses that have strong long-term growth prospects with attractive valuations.
Performance Commentary - December 31, 2022 The Fund (C Class) returned 8.2% for the quarter.
Markets grappled with the withdrawal of liquidity, an inverted US yield curve and a potential 2023 US recession. Meanwhile, in Asia, easing core inflation and further central bank interest rate hikes, combined with expectations that the US Federal Reserve is closer to the end of its tightening cycle, led to a bottoming in most Asian currencies against the US dollar in October. The uncertain backdrop drove volatile markets across Asia. India (+4%) remained resilient, while Vietnam (-13%) best highlights the impact of tight domestic liquidity conditions. Hong Kong (+3%) remained volatile during the period, selling off ~15% post the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but subsequently recovering ~35% from the lows, following revised property and COVID measures.2 Foreign sentiment towards China is recovering, with Hong Kong-listed shares (H-shares) rising more than their mainland China-listed counterparts (A-shares).
Chinese authorities made some adjustments to their zero-COVID policies, which the market took some comfort from. Improving sentiment benefited holdings such as travel website operator Trip.com (+26%) and hotel chain H World Group (+26%), which were among the biggest contributors to the Fund’s performance. Yum China (+17%) and BOC Aviation (+17%) were also solid performers, albeit they are smaller positions in the Fund. Other notable performers in China included insurers Ping An Insurance (+32%) and AIA Group (+33%). Heavy-duty truck engine manufacturer Weichai Power (+41%) recovered with a bottoming in Chinese truck volumes and forklift/warehouse automation subsidiary KION AG trading well. Paper/containerboard manufacturer Nine Dragons Paper (+46%) also benefited from a bottoming in unit margins and hopes for a recovery in end demand.
Performance Commentary - September 30, 2022 The Fund (C Class) returned -8.8% for the quarter.
As the world grapples with infl ation and rising interest rates, questions have started to arise about the sustainability of the global economic expansion. Meanwhile, we have seen a withdrawal of liquidity from major global markets, and many stock markets have been falling. The Asia region was generally weak, although India and Indonesia stood out as notable exceptions. Despite the overall declines, there were a handful of bright spots in the portfolio during the quarter. Indian low-cost airline InterGlobe Aviation was the biggest contributor to performance (+16%), gaining on the back of good passenger volumes coming into the seasonally weak third quarter. Jardine Cycle & Carriage (+19%) was embraced by investors due to improving prospects for their commodity and automotive operations in Indonesia and Vietnam. Our holding in Indian bank ICICI (+22%) also performed well, driven by foreigners scrambling to deploy money into the Indian market. AK Medical (+31%), a Chinese manufacturer of prosthetic joints, picked up market share in the domestic industry, and its profi t results came in ahead of investors’ expectations, driving the share price higher.
Performance Commentary - June 30, 2022 The Fund (C Class) returned 3.7% for the quarter and -14.5% for the year.¹
This quarter was somewhat the reverse of what we had seen recently, with Chinese assets generally performing reasonably well while most other markets across the region were weak. In China, the market responded to an economy that was starting to show signs of improvement as the latest wave of Covid lockdowns eased, while the government increasingly turned its attention to stimulating the economy. Meanwhile, in most other countries across the region, the impact of the broader global slowdown and withdrawal of global liquidity dragged on asset prices.
Many of our slightly faster-growing, more-innovative companies across China saw their shares perform well, including companies such as prosthetic joint manufacturer AK Medical (+26% over the quarter), online grocery delivery company Dingdong (+56%), robotics manufacturer Estun Automation (+22%), e-commerce platform JD.com (+8%) and computer game and offi ce software maker Kingsoft (+20%).
Having moved past the latest round of relatively harsh Covid-induced lockdowns in China, there was also a renewed sense of optimism in the market around the reopening of travel and in-store retail, as people took heart from government actions like the reduction in quarantine requirements. This change in sentiment benefi ted portfolio holdings such as hotel chain H World Group (formerly known as Huazhu, +15%), travel website operator Trip.com (+19%) and fast-food chain Yum China (+10%).
The Indonesian market, while volatile through the quarter, also largely managed to hold its ground. Some of our investments exposed to that market benefi ted, including investment holding company Jardine Cycle & Carriage (+13%) and paints company Avia Avian (+4%).
Finally, in India, our holding in Maruti Suzuki (+12%) performed well on the back of news around much- anticipated SUV model launches.
The biggest detractors from performance for the quarter were our semiconductor holdings Samsung Electronics
(-18%), SK Hynix (-23%) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (-20%), which all declined as the global economic environment weakened and fears rose around the shorter-term outlook for major end markets like smartphones, laptops and PCs. Filipino property developer Ayala Land (-27%) also declined, likely largely in response to the rising interest rate environment but potentially also refl ecting some hesitancy towards the country from global investors, given the recent election result. The fi nal detractor worth highlighting is our holding in Indian airline InterGlobe Aviation (-20%), whose share price fell primarily in response to higher oil prices, as well as potentially some concerns around the capacity discipline of the industry as competitors placed orders for new aircraft.
Our index and stock-specifi c short positions all made modest positive contributions to performance during the quarter.
Similar to last quarter, we maintained a currency exposure largely in line with our underlying assets. As such, the performance of the Fund benefi ted from a weakening Australian dollar, which was weighed down by global growth fears.
Performance Commentary - March 31, 2022 The Fund (C Class) returned -11.2% for the quarter and -16.5% for the year. The Chinese and Korean markets were particularly weak during the quarter, while Indian and South East Asian markets fared better. The sell-off in Korean shares happened alongside weakness in the Nasdaq and US growth sectors through January, as inflationary concerns rose and investors started to discount the potential impact of multiple interest rate rises. The weakness in Chinese assets was quite a separate event, particularly noticeable through the first half of March, following geopolitical questions arising out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and exacerbated by comments from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the ongoing delisting process of Chinese companies from US stock exchanges.
Turning to the portfolio, there was a positive contribution from China Overseas Land & Investments (+27%) and China Resources Land (+11%), two of our Chinese property developer holdings. These companies benefited from a targeted relaxation in government policies to help boost end demand, as well as loosened restrictions for better capitalised developers. While the drama surrounding Evergrande and other more indebted developers has not completely passed, it appears there is a bifurcation whereby more conservative operators (such as those that we own) are increasingly viewed through a more favourable lens by the market and by regulators.
Performance Commentary - June 30, 2021 The Fund (C Class) returned 1.3% for the quarter and 26.2% for the year.
Early in the quarter, weakness in markets coincided with rising inflationary concerns and a resurgence in COVID cases, particularly in India. However, as the quarter progressed, these concerns melted away. A consensus appears to have formed in the market that inflation is likely to be transitory, or at least is unlikely to elicit a policy response in the form of higher interest rates anytime soon. Meanwhile, India managed to get the disease somewhat back under control and ended up being the top contributing market to the Fund’s performance over the quarter.
On the positive side of the ledger, during the quarter, we experienced strong returns from our Chinese apparel brands Li Ning (+88% over the quarter) and Anta Sports Products (+44%). This reflects both a growing preference among young Chinese consumers for domestic brands over foreign brands (as we discuss in our feature article “China’s Societal Change: Centralised Command and Capitalist Entrepreneurs”), as well as continued solid execution against business plans by the management teams of both firms.
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