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Invesco Asia Dragon Trust PLC on Thursday reported benchmark-beating growth in the first half-year period since its creation through a merger in February. The combination of Invesco Asia Trust PLC and Asia Dragon Trust PLC was completed in February, and the enlarged company took Asia Dragon Trust’s place on the FTSE 250. For its first half-year since the merger, Invesco Asia Dragon reported a plus 34.1% net asset value total return, ‘significantly ahead’ of the plus 31.4% return generated by its benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index. The Henley-on-Thames, England-based and Asia-focused investor’s NAV per share was 468.83p as of October 31, up 32% from 356.31p as of April 30, the end of its financial year. Celebrating the ‘strong absolute and relative performance’, Chair Neil Rogan stated that ‘the bulk of the explanation is in a rerating upwards of Asian markets’. ‘This is partly a reaction to Asian markets having been trading at an unusually attractive discount to global markets after fifteen years of underperformance and partly the markets becoming accustomed to President Trump’s tariff diplomacy,’ Rogan continued. ‘It’s also partly a new optimism about future Asian growth fuelled by domestic policy decisions such as China’s measures to tackle deflation and stimulate domestic growth and South Korea’s ’Korea Up!’ policy to improve governance and shareholder returns.’ Invesco Asia Dragon’s NAV total return from the period end until Monday was plus 3.1%, underperforming against the index return of 3.3%, he noted. Looking ahead, Rogan commented that the trust appears to be ‘right in the middle of a major market turning point’ with positive signs from most Asian markets, aside from the ‘significant setback’ of Trump’s 50% tariffs on India. ‘But the dominant economy in the region is China,’ he continued. ‘It’s also the biggest market in the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Index. If we really are about to experience a major long-term turning point in US-China relations then it would necessitate a major adjustment in investment thinking and positioning towards Asia. The tail risk, the black swan, is now a market melt-up.’ Shares in Invesco Asia Dragon were up 0.2% at 441.01 pence in London on Thursday afternoon. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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