What's new?

6 Oct 24:
3Q report: 'The heat is on'.

1 Oct 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 1.4% in September to US$ 2,843.01; charts.

21 Sep 24:
We marvelled at NatWest's decision to appoint Rick Haythornthwaite as chairman, and to proceed after detailed warnings of his involvement in one of the world's biggest fraud cases. Now Malaysia's 1MDB asset recovery taskforce is seeking information. Sarawak Report's coverage remains a model of clarity. Read on...
https://www.sarawakreport.org/2024/09/malaysia-investigating-1mdb-cash-paid-to-head-of-uks-natwest-bank/

9 Sep 24:
Apollo Asia Fund has been notified of a change in the shareholding structure of its current fund management company, AIMS Asset Management Sdn Bhd. There is no change in beneficial ownership, but as of last week there is a change in voting control. The Managing Director of AIMS has assured the fund that it intends no change in the working relationship. The individual fund manager for Apollo Asia Fund remains unchanged: that's me, Claire Barnes.

3 Sep 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 2.4% in August to US$ 2,804.17; charts.

13 Aug 24:
The first six articles in this quarter's Mekong Review (Aug-Oct), are on cultural loss in Kashgar; literary censorship in Vietnam; the importance of independent media in Malaysia; China, the Wa & the fragility of Myanmar; the history of Chinese families in Thailand; & "living otherwise" in Singapore. Recommended! & worth supporting. Freely available on the website is a book review on America's 1906 Bud Dajo massacre in the Philippines.

1 Aug 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 2.8% in July to US$ 2,739.56; charts.

2 Jul 24:
The 2Q report discusses the transition to a multipolar world.

1 Jul 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares fell 0.4% in June to US$ 2,664.17; charts.

3 Jun 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 5.2% in May to US$ 2,674.08; charts.

15 May 24:
The 2023 report of income for UK Reporting Fund purposes for the Series A shares is here. The page listing all of the income reports (starting 2013) is www.apolloinvestment.com/UKreportingfund.html.

2 May 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares fell 2.1% in April to US$ 2,542.53; charts.

The poetry & doggerel page has been updated for the first time in years - with a cautionary tale from 2009, containing a forecast for 2014. The tenth anniversary of the due date seems a good time to reconsider...

Many links on that page have been refreshed (a chore which proved quite enjoyable as I revisited some old favourites), and a bonus link added to Plague Poems.

10 Apr 24:
The 1Q report reflects on the changing international order and future priorities: Maintenance & mitigation.

3 Apr 24:
Poll results for the 3pm Giordano meeting were released on Bloomberg at 10:21pm, an unusually late hour. The Chow Tai Fook group voted its 24.1% stake, and so few of the other shareholders voted that although almost all were opposed, CTF's resolutions were carried. CTF has already replaced Peter Lau as CEO, and remodelled the board to its own design. Bidders who appreciate the strong cashflows and potential may assume that the company is now up for sale.

1 Apr 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 0.3% in March to US$ 2,596.27; charts.

18 Mar 24:
Giordano is under attack, from its largest shareholder, Chow Tai Fook, which wishes to oust the long-serving CEO and pack the board with its nominees. The business now appears to be available for sale, and our new artice explains why this should be of interest to strategic investors - Uniqlo, other retail groups, financial investors who might like a strategic/controlling stake in a resilient cash-generative purveyor of staples in growth markets? This seems an interesting opportunity, so please spread the word - and if you're a shareholder, be sure to vote at the meeting on 3 April.

6 Mar 24:
Odd juxtaposition of headlines in Japan: greatly expanded provision of visas for 'specified skilled workers' to meet current labour shortages; human tragedies resulting from indefinite and arbitrary detention of migrants. Surely there would be economic as well as compassionate grounds for reform?

2 Mar 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 3.8% in February to US$ 2,589.51; charts.

10 Feb 24:
Best wishes to all our readers for the year ahead, The Year of the (Sea)Dragon.

1 Feb 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares fell 2.5% in January to US$ 2,495.80; charts.

21 Jan 24:
Rick Haythornthwaite is due to take over on 15th April as chair of NatWest. Sarawak Report's update notes that "by that date the PetroSaudi trial will be entering its third week, inevitably spotlighting Mr Haythornthwaite's role as the Chief Operating Officer at PetroSaudi throughout the period that the corrupt joint venture with 1MDB was executed... an unusual back-drop for an anointment to a top City position". We reported in September on the very good questions raised by Sarawak Report and mainstream media, but the bank is apparently pressing ahead. Haythornthwaite was appointed to the NatWest board on 8th January, and is now described on its website as 'Chair Designate'. Sarawak Report has reproduced the extraordinary dismissal of one shareholder's enquiries by senior independent director Mark Seligman. Malaysian taxpayers watch from afar, and will be paying for the 1MDB fraud for years to come. NatWest shareholders, customers, and everyone exposed to this systemically important UK bank should continue to ask questions.

18 Jan 24:
The investment case for Asia is eloquently made by Desmond Kinch in his annual chairman's statement for OAM Asian Recovery Fund. He uses Apollo Asia Fund's charts to highlight the multi-year derating which has partially offset the steady upward march in earnings and underlying asset values, shows the extent to which US share prices have outperformed Asia's over the last 13 years, and with caveats on right-sizing for geopolitical risk, argues persuasively that long-term investors should now buy Asian equities. Read his report here.

17 Jan 24:
I wrote in 2022 about Myanmar's imprisonment and eventual release of my friends Htein Lin and Vicky Bowman. Htein Lin's double portrait is topping Art Basel's must-see list for Singapore Art Week. His exhibition 'Reincarceration' is on now until 27 January. (Update: catalogue.)

8 Jan 24:
The 4Q report discusses cycles of violence, Myanmar, climate change, and my favourite dragon. Cherish the reef-dwellers.

2 Jan 24:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 2.9% in December to US$ 2,560.33; charts.

Claire Barnes

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