TRUST WATCH

Schroder Oriental Income Fund

WHAT IS IT?

SCHRODER Oriental buys shares in companies across the Asia Pacific region, including the likes of Australia and New Zealand, which offer attractive dividends relative to their price.

WHAT DOES THE MANAGER INVEST IN?

Managed by Matthew Dobbs since its 2005 launch, the trust’s top ten holdings include Apple components supplier Taiwan Semiconductor and major conglomerate Swire Pacific. More well-known names also feature, such as miner BHP Group and HSBC bank.

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS LIKE?

The fund’s target market contains 48 countries and more than half the world’s population, points out Fundcalibre analyst Chris Salih. He adds that Dobbs’s experience ‘makes the trust stand out from its peers’, and he takes a lower-risk approach than some managers.

ANY DOWNSIDES?

Asian equities have fallen out of favour in recent years as investors have worried about slowing growth in China and the constant threat of a trade war with the US.

However, Salih thinks that bar an unexpected disaster, there are still opportunities.