Pendal to terminate Asian fund due to ‘small size’
Pendal is set to shutter its Asian Share Fund in August as it has “little prospect” of significant growth in funds under management.
The Pendal Asian Share Fund – an actively managed portfolio of Asian shares, excluding Japan and Australia – will terminate on 18 August 2025, the investment manager announced.
“We regularly review our product offerings and investment capabilities to ensure that our business continues to maintain a product suite that remains viable and relevant to our investor demands,” Pendal stated.
After “careful consideration”, the firm determined that terminating the fund would be in the best interests of its investors.
This was due to the fund’s small size, Pendal stated, which has led to high running costs and means it cannot be managed in a cost-efficient way.
“We also consider that the fund has little prospect of significant growth in funds under management in the foreseeable future,” the company added.
“If the fund were to continue, the fund’s size would result in higher management costs for investors, which would reduce their investment returns.”
The fund had some $21.8 million in assets, according to Morningstar, and offers annual returns of 7.06 per cent over one year. It invests in opportunities located throughout Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Vietnam.
Franklin Templeton Australia (FTAL) also announced this month that it had closed two funds run by ClearBridge and Martin Currie for similar reasons.
The ClearBridge RARE Emerging Markets Fund, a managed investment scheme set up in 2008, closed on 15 May, as FTAL believed it was unlikely to further grow its assets under management. As of 30 April 2025, the fund had $7 million in assets.
“FTAL has considered the current assets under management and the anticipated likelihood of growing the fund’s AUM in the near term and has determined that it is in the best interest of all unitholders to wind up the fund in an orderly manner and return the proceeds to investors,” it said.
The fund aimed to hold a diverse range of infrastructure securities across a number of infrastructure subsectors such as gas, electricity and water utilities, renewables, toll roads, airports, rail and communication infrastructure across geographic regions within emerging markets.
The second fund, Martin Currie Property Securities Fund, was closed for the same reason. Set up in 1982, the managed investment scheme was $21.8 million in size and invested in Australian listed property trusts and property-related listed equities.
AUTHOR
Jasmine Siljic
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