Teera Chanpongsang, manager of Fidelity Asia, is one of the longest-tenured managers within the Fidelity Asia ex Japan equities investment team, based in Hong Kong. He has been with the firm for almost 25 years, starting as an analyst before taking on a portfolio management role. Chanpongsang took over this fund at the start of 2014 after predecessor Allan Liu retired. He has shown he is comfortably up to the task, performing well relative to peers in both up and down markets.

Chanpongsang seeks companies trading below their intrinsic value that he believes have improving fundamentals which are not yet reflected in the underlying share price. . He has no stated style bias, although typically leans towards ‘growth at a reasonable price’ (GARP). He will also take advantage of value opportunities, particularly restructuring stories, where he has significant conviction. The resulting portfolio has around 90 names.

Though broadly diversified at country and sector level, the manager tends to favour companies operating in emerging Asian economies, such as China and India, at the expense of more mature markets including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. This could lead to better returns over the longer term, but with potentially higher volatility.

Company management is a primary focus for Chanpongsang, particularly regarding the treatment of minority shareholders. Prior to joining Fidelity, he worked as an accountant in his native Thailand and he is especially wary of companies that display earnings growth without corresponding cashflow growth.

October 2020