Investment Manager

First State

First State is 100 per cent owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and is headquartered in Edinburgh. Its Asia Pacific ex Japan/Global Emerging Markets team is responsible for the portfolio and has 21 investment professionals, a number of whom are located in the firm’s offices in Hong Kong and Singapore. The First State team has specialised in Asian investment for 22 years and has built a highly creditable long term performance record managing a range of client portfolios including Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc, an investment company which invests in smaller companies in the Asian Pacific region. First State has a disciplined research procedure which seeks to identify high quality companies for investment. As part of this process, there is a strong belief that companies with management integrity who take into consideration sustainability issues and good corporate governance in formulating their long term strategies are more likely to provide superior long term investment returns.

Stuart Paul

Stuart is Joint Managing Partner of the Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets equity team at First State Investments. In 1994 Stuart joined First State (previously Stewart Ivory) as an analyst. His responsibilities grew to cover portfolio management and in 1999 he was appointed Joint Head of Emerging Markets (ex-Asia) Equities. From October 2000 to April 2005 Stuart was Chief Investment Officer at First State.

David Gait

David has been managing funds for over 11 years and is a Senior Portfolio Manager with the Global Emerging Markets & Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) team, having joined Stewart Ivory, the predecessor to First State Investments in 1997. In early 1999, he joined the Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) desk as Senior Analyst.  Having initially covered Korea, Taiwan and the Indian Sub-continent until the end of 2000, he then focused his research efforts on China and South-East Asia. David now covers all emerging markets with a specific focus on SRI and macro research. David was born in Edinburgh in 1975 and holds a BA in Economics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Investment Analysis from Stirling University.

For more information on First State Asia Pacific equities, click here.