Industry awards set to provide long-term performance guide

LONGER-TERM investment in some Asian-based funds remained profitable last year despite the market meltdown around the region, but many investors in funds targeted at Asian-Pacific markets saw three years of positive returns largely erased.

Even managers with conservative investment styles found defensive strategies no match for the turmoil.

When returns on Hong Kong's best-performing authorised funds, calculated according to the level of risk involved, are revealed at the South China Morning Post Fund Manager of the Year Awards next month, they will show how much the plunge in markets cost Asian-focused investors.

A few being measured over three years have past performances good enough to stay in positive ground, but the real winners will be those investing in the once-pedestrian markets of the West.

The importance of a long view in unit-trust investment will be shown by measurements made by Micropal over five years. Profits from the boom days of Asian markets might have been eroded last year, but there was still enough in the bank for investors to stay ahead in the long game.

The full story of how some Hong Kong investors are still coming out as winners will be unveiled on February 19, when the awards, in association with Micropal, are presented at the Island Shangri-La Hotel.