The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust has been operating for 30 years. In that time it has beaten its benchmark by 1,846% over the last 30 years, with a Share Price Total Return of 2,139%1 since 1995.
This beats its benchmark the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index, which returned 292% over the same period, and means that if someone had invested £1,000 in 1995, they would have seen that grow to £22,3902 today.3
Scottish Oriental, which is now marking its 30th anniversary, is one of the longest running investment trusts that invests in small cap companies in both developed and emerging markets in Asia. Managed by FSSA Investment Managers since IPO in 1995, Scottish Oriental adopts the same ‘bottom up’ approach to identifying quality investments; founded on fundamental research, an on-the-ground presence and strong relationships with management teams. This “growth at a Scottish price” approach has helped the Trust to perform better than the index in almost 80% of weaker periods when the Index has fallen, demonstrating its ability to preserve capital even during more volatile markets.
Sree Agarwal, Lead Manager of the Scottish Oriental Investment Trust, said: “We are incredibly proud of the Trust’s performance. Since it was founded 30 years ago, the Trust’s performance has been phenomenal, very much like the performance of the Chinese and Indian economies. Just as we believe the trajectory in these key markets will only continue, with additional growth from markets, including the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea, there are also significant opportunities ahead for Scottish Oriental’s next 30 years.”
While the investment region for the Trust spans China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, much of the growth has been from China and India as result of the respective country’s rapid, consistent growth over the last three decades. Between 1995 and 2023 alone, China’s GDP increased by 2,323%4 and India’s by 892%5. In comparison, the EU and UK’s GDP grew by 124% and 152% respectively.6 Furthermore, China’s GDP is now over five times that of the UK, and India surpassed the UK as the fifth largest economy last year.
Both countries have seen a rise in middle class consumers with disposable income, in turn leading to the premiumisation of products and further investment into infrastructure and manufacturing to accommodate. Two companies in Scottish Oriental’s portfolio that have benefited from these trends include Blue Starand DPC Dash.
Sree Agarwal added: “As investors we choose to focus on what we believe are quality investments in businesses that have potential for sustainable, long-term growth. Our relationships with management teams mean that we truly understand the companies we invest in from the inside out. We set out to grow our clients’ capital over the long-term, that has not changed in 30 years, and we feel confident of having delivered.”
Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust Discrete Performance, over five years
1 – First Sentier Investor’s internal data; reported here: https://www.scottishoriental.com/price-and-documents/documents-and-factsheets
2 – First Sentier Investor’s internal data; reported here: Documents and factsheets – The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust
3 – Calculated as share price at 28 March 2025 less the benchmark at the same date
4 – World Bank https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD calculated between 1995 and 2023 at which the latest verified data is available at release of this material.
5 – World Bank https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD calculated between 1995 and 2023 at which the latest verified data is available at release of this material.
6 – World Bank https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD calculated between 1995 and 2023 at which the latest verified data is available at release of this material. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD calculated between 1995 and 2023 at which the latest verified data is available at release of this material.
7 – First Sentier Investor’s internal data
