The Asia New Economy Fund Composition

If you would like to view the latest fund performance information please Click here 

Samsung Electronics (Korea) 

Samsung Electronics is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic goods in the world. Once dependent on DRAM for half of sales and 90% profits, Samsung has now restructured its strategy to be more profitability oriented and broadened its earning base into less cyclical sectors including telecom equipment, thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels and non-memory chips. In the coming years, Samsung plans to launch more high margin products including digital TV and the third generation (3G) wideband CDMA mobile phones. The management's goal is to position Samsung alongside the likes of Sony and Philips Electronics. 

Hutchison Whampoa (Hong Kong) 

Hutchison Whampoa already has substantial investments in fixed line and cellular telephony, is already the most efficient port operator in the world and has a wide geographical spread.  The company has substantial cash reserves with which to pursue its Internet and e-commerce ambitions.  The long-term goal is to gain access to the China market and in the meantime has formed strategic alliances with NTT DoCoMo and Global Crossing. 

Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan) 

The foundry industry is forecasted to grow at 30% CAGR over the next 4 years and will be the primary semiconductor manufacturing model of the next decade. Driven by capacity constraints and cost considerations, most Integrated Device Manufacturers like Motorola, Fujitsu, NEC are accelerating the outsourcing to foundries. TSMC leads the industry in total capacity, technology and wafer price.  

United  Microelectronics (Taiwan) 

UMC Group has made an amazing ascent in the foundry market in just four years by following the right strategy at the right time. With a merger of four subsidiaries, UMC would raise capacity by almost 250%. UMC is also aggressively pushing itself up in terms of deeper sub-micron process technology capability. It could be the first foundry to commission a 12” fab by the end of 2000. This will result in a fast growing wafer average selling price and margins. 

SK Telecom (Korea)

SK Telecom is the dominant mobile phone operator in Korea, with a market share of 43% at the end of December 1999. With a mobile penetration higher than 50% in Korea, wireless data and Internet demand will drive the growth of Korean mobile operators going forward. By building up a massive subscriber base, SK Telecom should remain the leader in wireless data/internet service. SK Telecom has already launched the IS-95B data transmission service for mobile computing users as well as the WAP services for handset data users. SK Telecom is also in the process of developing IS-95C (2.5G) services in preparation for the IMT-2000 (3G) service.

China Telecom (HK) (Hong Kong) 

China Telecom (HK) is Mainland China’s premier cellular operator.  Initially an arm of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in China, it has proved itself to be a highly successful and commercially oriented company.  The management understands the needs both of its customers and its shareholders.  The demand for cellular phones in China makes China Telecom one of the fastest growing cellular operators in the world.  Its prominent position makes it a major beneficiary of the ongoing transition from a command economy into a market economy. 

DBS Group (Singapore) 

DBS is the leading banking group in Singapore.  A new CEO from JP Morgan was appointed to the group in May 1998 and under his direction the Group has been transformed.  Performance incentives are being put into place to cultivate a sales-oriented culture and the heads of several divisions have been replaced by outside talent. The old property assets have been sold and the group has expanded overseas in Hong Kong, Thailand and The Philippines.  The Group was the first to offer internet banking in Singapore and is now working on further expanding its electronic distribution channels and on-line communications services. 

Infosys (India) 

Infosys is India's premier software company providing turnkey software solutions maintenance.  Its e-commerce software business is the main earnings growth driver.  Exports account the bulk of revenue with the US being the dominant market.  The company is operating in the fastest growing sector in India and the skills of Indian software programmers is now being recognised worldwide.  

Singapore Press Holdings (Singapore) 

Singapore Press is Singapore’s leading publisher with a stable of 12 newspapers and 7 periodicals.  SPH has developed its own internet operations and their AsiaOne website gets over 30 million page views per month.  The Group also has a 26.7% stake in Singapore’s cable operator, and a 35.0% stake in MobileOne, a leading mobile telephone operator. 

Satyam Computer (India) 

Satyam Computer is India's seventh largest software exporter with expertise in key areas such as insurance, banking, financial services, manufacturing, engineering & telecommunications. It has an Internet Service Provider subsidiary and 8 offsite outside India.  The company is now investing heavily in marketing in the US, Europe and Japan, which will harden its competitive edge.   

Acer Incorporated (Taiwan) 

Taiwan’s largest PC maker has aggressively restructured with renewed focus on profitability rather than market share. It has re-positioned Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing as an IC foundry following TSMC buyout. It has also devoted resources in developing Internet appliances. It has also guided Acer Peripherals to develop in-house technology for telecommunications products. Acer has disposed a lot of its non-core equity investments to improve return on equity and been focusing on ICs, peripherals (through API) and IA (Internet appliances). Its recent improved operating performance is showing that the company is on the right track.

Cable & Wireless HKT (Hong Kong) 

Cable & Wireless HKT is the main fixed line telephone operator in Hong Kong and until recently, it held a monopoly over international telephony.  The telephone market has now been opened up to competition and Hong Kong now has the most deregulated market in the world.  Cable & Wireless HKT is now moving aggressively to build up an Internet and data services business.  At present it is still the only provider of Internet broadband services and given its strong management, technological know-how and modern systems it will continue to be a significant competitor in this market. 

ST Assembly Test Services (Singapore) 

STATS offers full turnkey solutions in integrated circuit packaging and testing.  The company has more testing capacity in mixed-signal testing than any other independent house.  STATS has positioned itself to take advantage of the fast growing communications market with customers such as Broadcom, Motorola and Analog Devices. 

Datacraft Asia (Singapore) 

Datacraft is the region’s leading networking and communications systems integrator.  The group has recently setup an e-commerce consulting division, I Square Solutions Limited, and entered the Korean and Japanese markets.  Datacraft now operates from 56 offices and 13 countries throughout Asia. 

Natsteel Electronics  (Singapore) 

Natsteel Electronics is a leader in the rapidly growing global sub-contract electronics manufacturing industry.  Key customers include HP, IBM, Apple, Compaq and Intel. Natsteel Electronics was one of the first Singapore companies to offer an e-commerce solution aimed at optimising its procurement and distribution functions. 

Acer Peripherals (Taiwan) 

Acer Peripherals (API) has been a leading producer PC peripheral products. However, the company is in rapid transition and its core earnings drivers are Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display panels and GSM handsets. API was the first company in Taiwan to develop in-house capability to design wireless communications devices and this strength is expected to be a key driver of its long-term growth in an increasingly wireless world. 

Television Broadcasts (Hong Kong) 

Television Broadcasts is the largest producer and Chinese-language television programming.  It is also Asia’s largest television and Internet content provider with a valuable 80,000-hour programme library.  TVB has teamed up with Measat in Malaysia to acquire experience in Direct-to-home satellite television, multimedia and interactive broadcasting.  It is one of two terrestrial broadcasters in Hong Kong, market, which it dominates with 81% of terrestrial market revenues.  The business is well capitalised, is cash generative and has achieved Return on Equity of over 30%. 

Cheung Kong (Hong Kong) 

Cheung Kong is well known, as one of Hong Kong’s leading real estate developers but it is also the owner, through its subsidiaries of an array of assets ranging from ports, telecommunications, supermarkets and infrastructure.  This puts the company at the heart both of Hong Kong’s role as a service centre for China and its efforts to reinvent itself as a regional telecommunications and technology hub.   

Citic Pacific (Hong Kong) 

Citic Pacific is the listed arm of Citic Beijing, which itself is an influential Mainland China investment company.  Citic Pacific’s interests range from aviation and trading in Hong Kong to diverse infrastructure projects in China.  The company has already invested into a Mainland china fibre-optic network and is finalising details of investment that will give it significant interest in China’s cellular industry. 

Bank of East Asia (Hong Kong) 

Bank of East Asia is one of the oldest local banks in Hong Kong and has been one of the most active in its efforts to build a China business.  It has also been the most aggressive of the local banks to create an Internet banking business.  This move, ahead of the rest, will allow it to gain market share and will also give it significant cost advantages.  In Hong Kong’s already overcrowded banking sector this move could give BEA a significant competitive advantage, which has yet to be reflected in its share price. 

HSBC Holdings (Hong Kong) 

HSBC Holdings has transformed in recent years from a conservatively run commercial bank into a major world-class competitor with significant assets in the U.S., U.K. and Asia as well as smaller investments in continental Europe and South America.  The bank is moving toward implementing electronic banking, is developing the existing customer base and is creating a global brand.  

Johnson Electric (Hong Kong) 

Johnson Electric is a manufacturer of micromotors that are used in goods ranging from automobiles to business and household products.  The business has grown on the back of the move toward outsourcing where Johnson can produce more efficiently and at a lower cost than its competitors in the industrialised world.  Improvements in their business operations range through from inventory control, production efficiency and timely product delivery. 

Li & Fung (Hong Kong) 

Li & Fung is a specialist trade services company, sources skills and know-how, production facilities and raw materials across forty locations across the world for retailing businesses in the U.S. and Europe.  They are further developing the business through the application of and Intranet that allows communication between the local facilities and the head office and will also allow more efficient and timely communications with the end customer.  This platform may also make dealings with smaller customers commercially viable.  

Pacific Century Cyberworks (Hong Kong) 

Pacific Century Cyberworks consists of three main businesses: a broadband provider and media company, an internet-focused venture fund and the Cyber-Port, a high tech real estate project based in Hong Kong.   The aim is to gain access to over 100 million cable TV households across Asia, which would make it one of the world’s largest broadband ISP operators. 

Sun Hung Kai Properties (Hong Kong) 

Sun Hung Kai Properties is one of Hong Kong’s leading real estate developers but in recent years has diversified into other areas most notably into cellular telecoms through its stake in Hong Kong listed Smartone.  The company has further boosted its technology credentials through the creation of Internet selling tools, the creation of a technology ventures fund and is looking at ways to provide building services targeted at business in the form of “data warehouses”.   In the core business they are upgrading residential building specifications to meet the growing demand for Internet services. 

Macronix (Taiwan) 

It is a leading low-cost semiconductor solutions provider with expertise in the non-volatile memory and multimedia logic IC markets. Macronix is set for strong growth in revenue and earnings as the industry enters a multiple-year growth cycle. The firm core businesses are producing chips for the explosive cellular handset, MP3, set-top box and Personal Digital Assistance growth markets.  

Synnex (Taiwan) 

Synnex is unchallenged in Taiwan’s IT and telecom equipment distribution market. It is over double the size of its nearest competitor, conferring economies of scale. Another strength is its proprietary management information system (MIS), which has halved the number of inventory days since 1994. Its command of the retail channel makes it a powerful partner for future revenue stream on e-commerce. 

Asustek  (Taiwan) 

Asustek is Taiwan’s leading motherboard manufacturer with a reputation for quality products. It has a proven track record of delivering high return to shareholders. ROAE (return on average equity) has managed to be 50% since 1994. Rapid market delivery of new technology and with low defect rates is the key reasons for the success of its premium priced PC motherboard. The brand equity has extended to its notebooks.

Kookmin Bank (Korea)

Kookmin Bank is Korea’s largest retail bank and the leader in internet banking. Having merged with KLTCB (Korea Long Term Credit Bank) and having Goldman Sachs as a major shareholder, Kookmin Bank provides corporate finance, retail banking and asset management services to its customers. The bank has also recently formed strategic alliances with Yahoo Korea and Samsung Corporation and started to offer internet banking on Yahoo’s financial information page and e-commerce settlement services on the Samsung internet shopping mall.  

Korea Telecom (Korea)

Korea Telecom is the dominant integrated telecom service provider in Korea. Its voice services include local call, domestic long distance call, and international long distance calls. With the opening of the broadband internet access market in Korea, the future growth of Korea Telecom depends on its success in the covergent communication service (integrated voice, data and Internet communication). As such, Korea Telecom has announced an aggressive ADSL (Asychronous Digital Subscriber Line) rollout plan, directly competing with other broadband ISPs such as Hanaro Telecom, Thrunet, and Dreamline. For Korea telecom that has the most established copper phone line network in Korea, it seems natural that it should rollout its broadband service using ADSL technology. Because Korea Telecom has the widest coverage, we think that it will be one of the winners in the Korean broadband internet market.

Unisem (Malaysia)

Unisem is a leading independent integrated circuit packager in Malaysia. Unisem’s customer list includes National Semiconductor, Micrel Semiconductor, Maxim and Fairchild Semiconductor. These customers largely cater to the telecom, automotive and consumer electronics industries. The integrated circuits are used in products from mobile phones to anti-lock breaking and GPS map readers for the automotive industry.  The company is increasingly offering testing services to its customers.

Advanced Info Services (Thailand) 

AIS is a dominant cellular operator in Thailand. It will fully benefit form a growing wireless market as its only competitor (TAC) is still in financial troubles. New application and services of mobile operation (pre-paid and WAP ) can attract subscribers at both ends of the market. 

Star Publications (Malaysia) 

Star Publications is the market leader among English language newspapers in Malaysia.  Although the company has had an Internet presence since 1995 and is getting around 9 million page views per month it is currently seeking partners to explore opportunities on the Internet.  The Group has just announced an Internet joint venture with Bridge Information Systems focussing on providing business news content. 

Benpres Holdings  (The Philippines) 

Benpres is a diversified media conglomerate with controlling stakes in the leading broadcaster in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, and the leading cable TV operator, Skycable.  The group is the dominant provider in Filipino content programming and has a controlling stake in a telecommunications operator, Bayan Tel. 

PLDT (The Philippines) 

PLDT is the dominant telecommunications operator in The Philippines with leading market shares in the local, international and mobile markets.  Additionally the group has a wholly owned Internet Service Provider and a cable TV operator.

The entry fee for the fund is 5%, with an Annual Mgt Fee of 1%.

Click Here To Request An Application Form By Entering "IGF Asia Fund Application" In The Subject Box