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Henderson Far East Income - Repositioning to raise total returns

Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) has consistently delivered on its objective to provide a rising dividend. However, like many investors, HFEL’s managers overestimated the potential for a post-pandemic rebound in China. The trust’s resultant overweight to Chinese consumer and other cyclicals led to a fall in portfolio revenues and underperformance in the financial year ended 31 August 2023 (FY23). With a view to improving future returns, HFEL’s board has since indicated an increased willingness to use reserves when necessary to support dividend payments, which it did in FY23. This reduces the requirement to focus primarily on high income names to fund dividend payments, giving lead manager Sat Duhra scope to move into other areas of the market where he can acquire well-priced value names offering performance and yield, or the prospect of dividend growth over time. Duhra has been quick to reduce the trust’s exposure to China and increase positions into well-priced value names in India and Indonesia. Early signs suggest this repositioning is paying off - HFEL outperformed the market in the six months to end March 2024.