Invesco Asia Dragon (IAD)

Invesco Asia Dragon (IAD) has recently become a £1bn trust following some excellent periods of performance over both the near- and longer-term. This has been achieved through the contrarian approach used by the recently refreshed management team of Fiona Yang, Ian Hargreaves and Marc Ye which has captured the exceptional rally seen in Asia over the past year.

Additionally, this size has led to the lowest Charges in the peer group, with an OCF of just 0.59%. Contributing to this is the tiered management fee, which has successfully passed on the economies of scale to shareholders achieved as the trust has grown, both as a result of the strong Performance and the recent combination with a peer.

The main driver of the strong performance over the past year has been technology stocks, which have benefited from the surge in demand for AI-related infrastructure. The managers have captured much of this, although have begun selling into the strength to capture profits and recycle into more contrarian ideas. For example, the managers have cut their Samsung Electronics exposure considerably after shares more than doubled in the first six months of 2026 and rotated into Chinese game developers which have sold off on fears AI could interrupt their business. As a result, the Portfolio now has a notable underweight to technology, although the managers have maintained exposure in certain key areas where they think earnings are more sustainable.

Whilst this has led to excellent capital returns, IAD’s enhanced Dividend policy helps broaden the appeal to a wide range of investors. There are four equal quarterly payments a year, equivalent to a yield of 4% on the financial year’s closing NAV. This means the trust offers a blend of income and capital potential, aiming to generate double-digit total returns per annum over a market cycle.