The FFSA Asia Equity Fund is a great case study of explicit and integrated ESG and Stewardship that has been integral to consistent outperformance and long term value creation. The absolute return Fund is led by renowned manager Martin Lau, who has been a portfolio manager with First State for over 18 years and is awarded Benchmark's Asia Equity Fund Manager of the Year 2020.

The Fund's underlying philosophy and process have centered on the bottom-up stock selection using proprietary “"quality"" criteria and detailed fundamental analysis. This tested approach has been consistently and successfully applied over a multi-year period while navigating new business models, investment thematics, or periods of exuberant liquidity.

ESG principles have also been fully integrated into the Fund's investment strategy. A focus on high-quality companies held on a long-term basis enables ESG engagement to support performance, sustainable growth, and risk management objectives. ESG factors have been clearly defined for materiality and combined alongside traditional financial analysis, and it is not a separate function or analyst responsibility but a core investment team competency.

ESG integration has been supported by quality Stewardship, where the FFSA Asia Equity Fund has been at the vanguard of establishing and developing best practices. The Fund has been an early participant in industry bodies promoting and developing stewardship, and its first Global Stewardship Code was launched in 2013.

It continues to develop policy through a Responsible Investment Team providing specialist knowledge and a Responsible Investment Steering Group, chaired by the Group CEO. These Stewardship principles are routinely enacted during the Fund's interaction with investee companies through dialogue, formal letters, to divestment in extreme cases.

This Fund has been reviewed by eleven industry veterans of the Benchmark judging committee.