Asian equities have staged a robust rally in 2025. Yet beneath the headline figure lies a narrow driver of performance. In the year to date, almost two-thirds of the total return of the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex-Japan index has been driven by technology and AI-related companies.1 Outside of these sectors, many high-quality businesses – particularly in Southeast Asia, India and China’s traditional sectors – have not performed despite solid earnings growth, improving governance and attractive valuations.
Airports have seen phenomenal traffic growth as people prioritise travel and experiences in the face of cost‑of‑living pressures.
The rate of growth in the near‑term is seemingly not a demand story, but rather a question of whether airlines and aircraft manufacturers can keep pace with an insatiable demand to travel.
In the medium‑term we expect demand from baby boomers, millennials and Asia’s emerging middle class will continue to drive strong global traffic growth. We explore what this means for listed airport companies.
High-turnover, high-volume strategies might rely on algorithms and AI for their trading ideas. But at FSSA Investment Managers, we believe the key to building conviction in our investment ideas is having face-to-face conversations with the people and companies we invest in.
At FSSA Investment Managers, we take a patient, long-term approach when investing in global emerging markets, with a concentrated portfolio of high-quality companies. We examine why this philosophy has endured for the past quarter-century.
Investors sometimes fixate on short-term economic trends such as inflation paths and interest-rate movements, but this is not the FSSA Investment Managers way. Our strategy is driven by long-term growth trends in emerging markets and the investment opportunities they create.
At FSSA Investment Managers, we invest in businesses we expect to be part of our portfolio for decades to come. That’s why we put such a premium on the quality of management teams, choosing leaders who we believe have the skills to build strong franchises and deliver long-term growth.
Many fund managers see high trading volumes and rapid portfolio turnover as evidence of constant re-evaluation and attention to detail. But the FSSA Global Emerging Markets (GEM) strategy favours a more patient, long-term approach, only investing in companies where we have high conviction in their prospects.