Key highlights

  • ASX:ASAO is an actively managed ETF investing in equities of companies in Asia excluding Japan.
  • Taiwan (30.27%), China (25.09%), South Korea (23.95%) and India (12.46%) are the largest country weights.
  • The portfolio holds 76 companies, with the top ten making up 55.11%.

The abrdn Sustainable Asian Opportunities Active ETF (ASX:ASAO) gives investors exposure to listed companies in Asia, excluding Japan, through a single ASX-quoted fund. It is managed actively rather than tracking an index, and it invests in equities and equity-related securities of companies listed, incorporated or domiciled in Asian countries, or those that earn a significant share of revenues or profits there.

About the Fund

ASAO was admitted to the ASX on 19 October 2022 and is classified in the Equity Asia Pacific without Japan category. Its benchmark is the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Net Return Index in Australian dollars. The fund aims to generate long-term total returns and is actively managed. The responsible entity’s head office is in Melbourne.

The management fee is 1.18%.

Country exposure

The largest country allocation is Taiwan at 30.27%, followed by China at 25.09%. The remaining exposure is spread across South Korea (23.95%), India (12.46%), Singapore (1.41%), Vietnam (1.34%), Hong Kong (1.61%), United Kingdom (1.26%), Thailand (1.04%) and the Netherlands (0.82%).

Almost all of the fund is invested in equities (97.98%), with cash making up 2.02%, and every holding is a company valued above $1 billion.

Portfolio holdings

The portfolio holds 76 companies, with top ten holdings making up 55.11% of the fund. The largest positions are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (18.15%), SK hynix Inc (7.98%), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd preferred shares (7.03%), Tencent Holdings Ltd (5.46%) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ordinary shares (4.18%).

Other top ten holdings include MediaTek, ICICI Bank, Alibaba Group, China Construction Bank and Chroma ATE. Combined, the two Samsung Electronics lines represent 11.21% of the fund.

Understanding the exposure

The five largest positions add up to 42.80% of the fund, which shows how much of the exposure rests on a small number of names. The remaining 66 holdings share the other 44.89% of the portfolio, an average of about 0.68% each. Exposure is spread across 10 countries or regions, and the three largest allocations (Taiwan, China and South Korea) together account for 79.31% of the portfolio.

Fees, size and distributions

The most recent distribution was a final distribution of $0.198 per unit, with an ex-date of 1 July 2026 and payment on 16 July 2026.

Fund structure and reporting

ASAO has an ISIN of AU0000236804 and a head office at Level 2, 395 Collins Street, Melbourne. Recent ASX announcements from the fund include pricing basket reports in October 2026, a monthly units-on-issue and redemptions notice for September 2026 and the full-year statutory accounts lodged on 30 September 2026.

Equity Asia Pacific without Japan funds invest in companies from the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan. Asia Pacific securities typically account for at least 75% of the portfolio, and the portfolio may include stocks from emerging markets in the region.

Units in ASAO are quoted on the ASX and can be bought and sold through a broker during trading hours, in the same way as shares, so the exposure described above is available without buying each holding separately. The fund is actively managed, so its holdings and weightings are chosen by the manager rather than set by an index, and they can change over time.