Like Edinburgh-based investment manager abrdn, Zoe Kan, portfolio manager of BNY Investment’s Asian Income fund, believes a dividend-focused approach offers a greater reward in Asia.

Although a lot of investors have historically focused on growth stocks in Asia, Zoe Kan at BNY Investments believes a dividend focused approach offers better rewards within the region, and explains why she is overweight in Singapore and Taiwan in 2025.

Despite the recent stimulus measures in China, the US tech sell-off after China’s DeepSeek claimed advances in artificial intelligence and India’s fast-growing economy, Kan told this news service in an interview that she remains underweight in India and China, due to their lesser focus on dividends.

Kan believes that dividend paying firms are good, with better governance, so she is overweight in Taiwan and Singapore as they are bigger dividend payers. She also likes firms in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, saying that Indonesian banks, in particular, are attractive: “Valuations and dividend yields are good.” She is optimistic about the outlook for equities in these markets.

After US President Donald Trump’s administration recently imposed additional tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports, Kan said she looks at firms that are domestically-focused, without much exposure to tariffs. Nevertheless, she has been looking at some investment opportunities in China, saying valuations are attractive there.

Kan referred to the US elections in November, and the subsequent developments affecting global trade and the introduction of tariffs. “Whilst that might increase uncertainty and investor caution to Asia, we would focus on the long-term opportunities available in Asia still from domestic growth prospects, structural reform and demographic trends,” she said. “China remains an important part of the global economy, accounting for around 30 per cent of the world’s manufacturing base.” 

BNY Investments Asian Income Fund
Kan manages the UK-domiciled BNY Investments Asian Income fund which uses the FTSE Asia Pacific ex-Japan TR Index as a reference index, with an income objective.

Top 10 holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the fund’s largest holding, as well as Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the largest global producer of DRAM chips which has benefited from the price increase of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, driven by demand for generative AI.

They also include Singapore-headquartered financial group DBS Group Holdings, Indian conglomerate ITC, Singapore Technoligies Engineering, National Australia Bank, Taiwan-headquartered tech firm MediaTek and Indonesia’s PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk.

The fund is overweight in financials, followed by telecommunications, real estate, utilities and consumer staples.

Yoojeong Oh, investment director of the abrdn Asian Income Fund (AAIF), also remains underweight in China and India, due to their lesser focus on dividends. She prefers markets in Taiwan, Singapore and Australia, saying that they are the biggest dividend payers. See more commentary here.