The small-cap market across Asia is seeing strong growth, with healthy company profits and an active IPO space in emerging markets like India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.  

To learn more about the equity scene in Asia and how to engage with global investors, we spoke with Gabriel Sacks, Investment Director at Aberdeen. Gabriel brings 17 years of emerging markets expertise and offers advice for all IR professionals working with global investors. 

Challenges and opportunities in the growing Asian market 

Gabriel started his career with Aberdeen back in 2008 as a research analyst and portfolio manager on a range of Emerging Markets equity funds, including a Frontier Markets strategy. Today, his primary responsibility is as lead manager on the Aberdeen Asia Focus investment trust, which aims to give investors exposure to a portfolio of high-quality smaller companies across Asia that are otherwise very difficult to access.  

We talk about the differences between many of the countries that Gabriel works with and the four primary variations that anyone working across Asian markets needs to know. Gabriel talks about how the markets are looking in today’s turbulent geopolitical climate, and why he’s optimistic about growth. We hear his advice on how to communicate with company boards and investors, why face-to-face meetings are still the best meeting option, and how he’s using AI as a productivity tool. 

In This Episode 

• Gabriel explains the primary focus of the fund he manages  
• The three things he looks for when selecting stocks  
• Why Asia’s IPO market is particularly active  
• The resources he turns to when researching companies  
• How he interacts with companies and private investors  
• The four variations across Asian markets that IROs need to know about  
• Advice for management teams and IR on narratives and providing feedback  

Quotes: 

• "Sometimes you don't need access to management if you have a very strong IR... they're often better at communicating than the management team." 
  
  
• "Create a nice long-term narrative, but in the short term, maybe be a little bit more conservative on the guidance or at least very transparent and clear about what you're communicating." 
  
  
• "Some of the best meetings are sometimes when you've never met a company... the management or IR just relay the business strategy and narrative in a very clear manner." 

Resources: 

Connect with Gabriel on LinkedIn