Demographics and Structural Headwinds in China

Jason Pidcock, manager of the Jupiter Asian Income Fund, reflects with Wilf on his 35 years of investing in the continent and how he has built his strategy over the last 20 years to be one of the most successful Asian equity strategies managed from London.

Jason explains how a concentrated portfolio of 25 large, cash-generative companies across Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, India and South Korea has delivered strong long-term returns and outperformance.

The conversation ranges from why he has zero exposure to China and Hong Kong despite their economic heft, why he embraces investing in Taiwan despite geopolitical fears, to why he sees India as the most attractive developing market in the world and why some of Asia’s tech hardware names are a better-value way to play the AI boom than richly valued US mega caps. Jason also unpacks his bullish stance on gold and Australian miners amid loose global monetary policy, shares his concerns about China’s demographics, politics and corporate governance and why he prefers to access Chinese growth indirectly via companies listed elsewhere.

Along the way, Jason and Wilfred revisit the evolution of the strategy from its Newton days to Jupiter – when Wilf worked for Jason – and discuss the trade-offs involved in leaving a multi‑billion dollar franchise to build a new platform. Jason also explains why a lack of emotion is a necessity for working in investing and how you should always trust your own judgement when it comes to big career decisions. 

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Please note - Wilf is a holder of the Jupiter Asian Income Fund