Asia Tigers Fund share buyback

[August 22] - The Asia Tigers Fund, managed by AXA Asset Management in Hong Kong, reported that it has bought back a total of 536,000 shares over the previous nine-month period. The fund's board has previously authorized management to repurchase shares at "such times and in such amounts as management believes will enhance shareholder value." The fund is currently trading at a 25% discount to NAV.

Singapore fund changes name

[August 19] - The Singapore Sesdaq Fund has voted to change its name to the Govett Singapore Growth Fund Limited and to expand its investment objective to include companies listed on the main board. Shareholders also approved a tender offer for up to 35% of the issued share capital. According to a press release distributed in July, the tender is for up to 35% of shares at a discount of 15% to NAV.

Lehman offering new Asia fixed income index

[August 10] - Lehman Brothers has introduced a new Asia-Pacific index that tracks more than 1,000 public market fixed income securities across Asian markets. The Lehman Brothers Asian-Pacific Aggregate index was created to more accurately reflect returns for the fixed income securities of the region and will be included in Lehman's Global Aggregate index beginning October 1. Lehman has detected increased demand for more specific indexes.

ING rates Invesco AsiaNET Fund a Buy

[August 8] - The recently launched regional technology fund, AsiaNET Fund, has held up relatively well against the battering experienced by the technology sector in Asia, according to country fund analysts at ING Barings. The fund is heavily weighted to companies that manufacture the nuts and bolts of technology, such as printed circuit board manufacturers, software service companies, and DRAMS. "The adoption of technology across the world is accelerating rapidly creating real earnings for real companies," note the analysts. "We believe that given the strong research capabilities of the team managing the AsiaNET Fund, the fund should deliver strong NAV performance over the medium term." The fund has about 58% of its holdings in hardware companies. The other major sectors are telecom (28%), software (10.8%) and internet (4.7%).

Liberty Funds unveil two new Asia-Pacific funds

[June 15] - Liberty Funds Group launched two mutual funds focused on investing in the Asia Pacific region: the Stein Roe Asia Pacific Fund and Stein Roe Small Cap Tiger Fund. Both funds will be managed by portfolio management teams of Asian investment experts from Stein Roe's affiliate Newport Pacific Management and its subsidiary Newport Fund Management. The Stein Roe Asia Pacific Fund will invest in medium and large-cap stocks of companies located in Asian and Pacific Basin markets. Asian markets the fund invests in include Japan, Hong Kong/China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The Pacific Basin includes Australia and New Zealand. The fund is managed by Tim Tuttle, David Smith and Chris Legallet. The Stein Roe Small Cap Tiger Fund invests in stocks of companies located in the ten Tiger countries of Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, China and the Philippines. The managers of this fund, Chris Legallet and Lynda Couch, prefer well-established smaller capitalization companies with histories of consistent earnings growth in industries with attractive or improving prospects.

Asia private equity fund planning acquisitions

[May 29] - Private equity fund Chase Capital Partners Asia (CCP Asia) is planning acquisitions totaling up to $300 million by the end of this year. CCP Asia has just closed its fund, launched in May last year to capitalize on investment opportunities in recovering Asia, and is trying to reach a target size of $750 million. According to Andrew Liu, the fund's chief executive officer, CCP Asia will announce a major acquisition in the wireless telecommunications sector within the next few weeks. "We like to invest in control situation buyouts," Liu said. The fund is hoping to deploy all of its capital over the next five years and has already made six investments totaling about $330 million. These include a stake in South Korean auto components maker Mando Corp., investments in a specialist vehicle to acquire wireless telecommunications operators in the region, a Japanese broadband cable provider, and an integrated circuit assembly and test companies in Hong Kong and Indonesia. The fund's team of 15 professionals are actively pursuing deals in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. Investors include Chase Capital Partners, Liu's own family and other prominent Asian and US families, and the IFC. Other global institutional and private investors have invested $548 million.

New exchange traded Korea fund launched

[May 19] - Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) announced today that a series of exchange traded funds based on its indices has been launched by Barclays Global Investors (BGI), as part of their iShares family of funds. BGI has been involved in managing MSCI-indexed exchange traded funds under the name WEBS (World Equity Benchmark Shares) since 1996. WEBS have now been re-named "iShares MSCI" to reflect the consistent brand name for all exchange traded funds managed by BGI. On May 12, the new iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund was added to the iShares MSCI family of 17 funds, which also includes the following emerging markets index funds: iShares MSCI Malaysia, iShares MSCI Mexico, iShares MSCI Singapore, and iShares MSCI Hong Kong. iShares (www.ishares.com) are index funds that can be bought and sold like common stocks on a national stock exchange.

New Indian media and Internet fund gets connected

[July 2] - The Unit Trust of India, the country's largest domestic asset manager, has launched an offshore fund investing in Indian media, Internet, e-commerce and communications-related companies. The India Media, Internet & Communications Fund started with $60 million in April and is raising a second tranche. The Mauritius-registered fund is closed-end, listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, but will open-end by June 2001. The fund was placed by SG Securities (London) and SG Cowen Securities of the U.S. The fund invests in both listed and unlisted stocks. UTI chairman P. S. Subramanyam says that India is "poised to play a dominant role in the development of New Economy business, having established an enviable position at the forefront of the information technology revolution." The fund also seeks to play the anticipated consolidation of these companies.

[May 1] - The Irish Stock Exchange-listed Bangladesh Fund was down to one lone holding at the end of March - Orion Infusion Ltd. - as it is currently in the process of winding down. It is the only Bangladesh country fund in existence, so its departure from the emerging market fund scene will leave a void. At its peak, the Bangladesh Fund had nearly $70 million in assets (end of November 1996). 1996 was the only bright spot in its dismal past, as it gained 125.4% for theyear. Since inception (July 1994), the Fund has declined in value by over 40%. The Fund is managed by Ayaz Ebrahim of Indocam Asset Management.

[April 2] — The China Heartland Fund converted into an open-ended fund in early April. Investors will be able to subscribe and redeem on a quarterly basis, subscriptions at mid-NAV and redemptions at NAV-0.5%. Redemptions will be limited to 10% of outstanding shares per period and require two business days notice.

[March 28] — Shareholders voted in favor of open-ending the Indocam Himalayan Fund at a special meeting in late March. The fund's cap on Indian exposure will also be removed and its investment policy will be clarified to indicate that securities whose return is linked to underlying listed securities not be regarded as unlisted securities for the purpose of investment. Subscriptions and redemptions will take place monthly, with the first dealing day set for April 7. Redemptions will be limited to 30% of outstanding shares on April 7 and, thereafter, up to 10% of outstanding shares can be redeemed pro-rata per month. The fund's shares will continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and Amsterdam Stock Exchange and intends to comply with UK 'distributor status' requirements. The current Dutch withholding tax on redemptions is 15-25%, but will be eliminated on January 1, 2001. According to Ayaz Ebrahim, CIO of CA Indocam Asia Asset Management, the law has already been passed by the Dutch Lower Senate and is awaiting approval from the Upper Senate. Consequently, shareholders redeeming shares prior to January 2001 will be subject to the withholding tax. Subscriptions will be monthly at NAV plus a negotiable front-end load of up to 5%. The fund has an India allocation of about 85%, including top holdings Satyam Computer, Hindustan Lever, ITC Ltd., and State Bank of India.

[March 27] — Traded options on the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong were introduced on March 27, with each option contract representing options on 500 shares of the fund. At least five strike prices will be available for trading: two in-the-money, one at-the-money, and two out-of-the-money. The strike prices were set based on the closing price of the fund's shares on March 24. Options that expire in April, May, June and September will be available. The behemoth $6.7 billion open-end fund tracks the Hang Seng Index and is managed by State Street Global Advisors.

[March 27] — Shareholders of the Lazard Birla India Trust (LSE: LBI) voted to liquidate the fund at an EGM on March 20. Holders of 77.1% of the fund's shares opted to transfer their shares into the newly created Lazard Birla India Investment Fund and will receive one LBII Fund share for every $5 of assets transferred. The LBII Fund is an open-ended fund registered in Mauritius that will have an identical investment objective to the investment trust and is managed by Lazard Asset Management Ltd. About 22.7% of the shares opted for the Lazard International Bond Fund while only 0.16% voted to convert into cash at $1.70 per share. Lazard Birla India Trust had $93.5 million in net assets in early March. Its top holdings include Satyam Computer, Reliance Industries, NIIT Ltd. and Mayur Fund.

Asia Tigers Fund recommended as ‘Buy’

[February 20] — Country fund analysts at ING Barings are recommending that investors buy the Asia Tigers Fund (NYSE: GRR), which was trading at a 27.5% discount to NAV on February 18 against a 12-month average discount of 19.8%. "The Asian economic recovery remains firmly on track and we expect 4Q99 GDP releases from Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia to confirm this," notes ING Barings in a report. "We believe that YoY growth will reach around 6.5% in Taiwan, against consensus expectation of 6% whilst growth for Singapore should edge up to 8% this quarter from 6.7% in 3Q99." The fund, which is managed by Advantage Advisors, has outperformed the Hang Seng Asia Index by 8.9% over the last 12 months.