Category: Asia

Asian Equity

Active Asia Ex-Japan Funds: Performance & Attribution Q1 2026

April 30th 2026

• Active Asia ex-Japan funds fell -0.75% in Q1, but the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF rose +2.05% due to systematic fair value pricing, versus -1.2% for the underlying index.
• Narrow leadership, broader weakness: Gains were concentrated in Korea/Taiwan Technology and a handful of stocks, while China and India exposures dragged on overall returns.
• Positioning mattered, but gaps remain: Overweights in Korean Tech helped, but underweights in TSMC and China/India positioning drove underperformance, leaving managers still playing catch-up after 2022–2025.

Flat on the Quarter
Active Asia ex-Japan funds returned -0.75% over the quarter, with a wide dispersion: top performers delivered double-digit gains while laggards posted double-digit losses. The most common outcome sat in the -2% to 0% range.

The iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF returned +2.05%, a figure flattered by its use of “systematic fair value” pricing. Unlike most funds, which rely on local market closing prices, the ETF adjusts valuations post-close to reflect US market moves. On a like-for-like basis, the underlying benchmark index declined -1.2% over the quarter.

Regional Split
The charts below break down Q1 return drivers by country and sector, based on aggregate manager holdings. At the sector level, Technology was the standout contributor, adding 4.1% to returns, but this was more than offset by weakness across Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Financials.

At the country level, Taiwan and South Korea were the only clear contributors, with gains outweighed by declines in China and India. Within South Korea, performance was driven not just by Technology, but also by contributions from Industrials, Financials and Consumer Discretionary.

Stock-Level Influence
At the stock level, gains were highly concentrated in four key names. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Delta Electronics were the primary contributors, adding over 4% to total Q1 returns.

However, these gains were overwhelmed by weakness in core China and India positions. Tencent, Alibaba Group and HDFC Bank detracted a combined 2.5% on average, with further losses from positions in Trip.com Group, MakeMyTrip and Sea Limited.

Performance Attribution – Where Funds made and lost versus the Benchmark
The chart below breaks down the key drivers of relative performance at the country/sector level. Outperformance was led by overweights to South Korea Technology, cash holdings, and strong stock selection in Taiwan Industrials and China Technology.

On the flip side, underperformance was driven by overweights in China and India Communication Services, alongside weak stock selection in China Consumer Discretionary.

Stock Attribution
Active EM managers benefited from net overweights in Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Delta Electronics, while underweights in Xiaomi and Infosys also supported relative performance.

On the negative side, the UCITS-driven underweight in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was a key drag, alongside overweights in MakeMyTrip, Tencent and Trip.com Group.

Long-Term Performance
With the inflated returns of the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF — driven by its use of systematic fair value pricing — active returns appear weaker than they should, creating what is effectively a short-term distortion rather than a true performance gap.

That said, managers still need to close the gap, with underperformance over 2022–2025 leaving little room for complacency.

Performance & Attribution Report

Click the link opposite for full charts and data detailing the drivers of Q1 2026 performance, along with a review of 3-, 5-, and 10-year results across the active Asia Ex-Japan peer group.

Asia Ex-Japan Equity

March 31st 2026

Executive Summary

This report examines portfolio breadth and ownership patterns across the Asia Ex-Japan region, breaking down holdings by fund participation to understand where conviction is building, where it is fading, and how portfolios are evolving.

We look across the full distribution—from the most widely held stocks to the long tail of lesser-owned names—highlighting how different parts of the market behave, how stocks move between ownership cohorts, and where positioning is becoming more concentrated.

Together, these dynamics provide a clearer picture of how active managers are expressing views across Asia, and how the structure of portfolios is shifting beneath the surface.

How Many Companies Do Active Asia Ex-Japan Investors Own?
The number of companies held by active Asia ex-Japan funds peaked at just over 2,300 in 2021, before trending lower to ~1,920 today. Breadth is now clearly normalising after a period of expansion.

Positioning remains concentrated in North Asia. China & HK dominates with 801 companies (~42% of the total), followed by India at 338 (~18%). Elsewhere, exposure is more fragmented, with South Korea (248), Taiwan (208), and ASEAN (190) each representing smaller shares.

Overall, the story is one of moderating breadth alongside persistent concentration in the region’s largest markets.

Ownership Breadth
Ownership breadth across Asia ex-Japan portfolios is highly skewed. The vast majority of stocks are held by only a small fraction of funds, with 1,619 companies owned by fewer than 5% of investors (~84% of the universe). From there, the opportunity set narrows quickly, with only a small cohort of names achieving broad ownership.

However, this skew in stock count is less pronounced in portfolio weights. Stocks held by fewer than 15% of funds account for over 95% of names, but still represent ~30% of the average portfolio. Managers are clearly differentiating through the long tail, but position sizes remain relatively modest.

At the top end, ownership is far more concentrated. A very small group of stocks held by more than 50% of funds accounts for a disproportionately large share of capital, with the most crowded names (90–95% ownership) alone representing ~25% of average portfolio weight.

The result is a familiar structure: broad dispersion in stock selection, but with portfolios anchored by a handful of high-conviction, widely owned positions.

Concentration Rising: Shift Toward Consensus
Asia ex-Japan portfolios have become more concentrated in high-conviction names over time. A decade ago, close to ~40% of the average fund sat in stocks owned by fewer than 15% of managers; today, that has declined to ~29%, marking a steady move away from the long tail.

This has been offset by a clear rise in the most widely held names. Stocks owned by more than 50% of funds now account for ~42% of the average portfolio, up materially over time and highlighting the growing importance of consensus positioning.

Meanwhile, the middle buckets (15–50%) have drifted lower and remain a smaller share of portfolios, reinforcing that the key shift has been a rotation out of less-owned names into the most crowded part of the market.

Stocks held by more than 50% of funds

Crowding at the Top: More Names, More Weight
The number of stocks held by more than 50% of Asia ex-Japan funds has trended higher, rising to 13 today. This is toward the upper end of the historical range, with a broader set of names now consistently owned across managers.

In parallel, the weight allocated to these stocks has risen steadily. From the mid-teens a decade ago, they now account for well over 40% of the average portfolio, with step-ups particularly visible from 2017 onwards and again more recently.

Ownership Trends within the 50% Club
The current >50% cohort is relatively new. Only 5 of today’s ~13 names were already in the club prior to 2017.  What stands out in the ownership chart is how many of these names begin to steepen once they move through roughly 30% fund ownership. From there, participation often builds quickly, with a number of stocks going on to reach 50%, 70% and, in some cases, well beyond that.

This pattern is particularly evident among newer entrants, with CATL, Hong Kong Exchanges and Sea Limited all seeing sharp increases in Asia ex-Japan fund ownership.  Weights have also moved higher, though less uniformly, with TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung driving much of the recent increase in aggregate cohort weight.

The 30% – 50% Cohort

The 30–50% ownership bucket has remained relatively contained over time. Since 2012, 121 companies have passed through this range, with the live count typically sitting in the high teens to mid-20s — a meaningful but still selective slice of the universe.  In weight terms, this cohort built steadily into the mid-2010s, reaching the high-teens at its peak. More recently, that share has moved lower, now sitting closer to the low double digits.

Composition has also evolved. Earlier periods show a broader mix across sectors, while more recent years skew more toward large-cap technology and semiconductors.  The bucket itself behaves less like a destination and more like a pass-through — a range where names build ownership before either moving higher into the top cohort or falling back out.

30–50% Cohort: Snapshot & Turnover Dynamics
Current positioning within the 30–50% ownership range comprises 20 companies. The cohort is skewed toward large regional financials, internet platforms and domestic cyclicals, with names such as DBS, Ping An, Delta Electronics, Bharti Airtel and NetEase sitting toward the upper end of the range.  Position sizes remain relatively contained, with most holdings clustered below ~1% of average fund weight, and only a handful moving modestly above that level.

Turnover within the bucket is visible on both sides. A number of names have dropped below 30%, including BYD, JD.com and KE Holdings, alongside several Indonesian and China financials.  At the same time, new entrants have moved up through the threshold, including MakeMyTrip, Accton Technology, Zomato and ASE Technology, reflecting rising fund participation.

Diverging Paths Within the Middle Cohort
Ownership trends across the current constituents show a wide dispersion in trajectories.  Some of the more established names — such as DBS, Ping An and Hon Hai — have moved within relatively defined ranges over time, with participation rising and falling but not breaking out decisively.

In contrast, several names have seen more persistent upward trends. NetEase, Delta Electronics and Bharti Airtel have all climbed higher, pushing toward the upper end of the 30–50% range.

Elsewhere, a number of stocks remain below prior peaks. Meituan, Bank Mandiri and Bank Central Asia have all seen ownership fade in recent months.

The 15% – 30% Cohort

The 15–30% ownership bucket remains relatively small in Asia ex-Japan, with 52 companies in total.  Regionally, it is skewed toward China & Hong Kong (24 names), which also account for the largest share of weight (~5.5%). South Korea (9), ASEAN (8) and Taiwan (6) follow, with India (5) making up a smaller portion.

At the stock level, the cohort includes a mix of financials and cyclicals, with names such as China Merchants Bank, BYD, Hyundai Electric, KB Financial and Zijin Mining featuring in the range. Position sizes are modest, with most holdings well below 1% of average fund weight.

Intra-Cohort Rotation
The 15–30% cohort is a curiously small but churny part of the market. Over the past year, 16 companies have entered the bucket, while 13 have exited, against a total of just 52 names.

Entries have come from a mix of sectors, with names such as Zijin Mining, Bajaj Finance and Kuaishou moving up through the 15% threshold.  At the same time, a similar number of stocks have fallen out of the range, including United Overseas Bank, Axis Bank and Tata Consultancy Services, reflecting declines in both participation and positioning.

The 0% – 15% Cohort

The Long Tail
This bucket is where breadth sits, but it’s far from evenly distributed.  At the country level, China & HK dominate in both count and weight, with India a clear second. The rest of the region — ASEAN, Taiwan and Korea — forms a secondary layer with smaller but still meaningful contributions.

Sector-wise, there is a clear skew toward Industrials, Financials and Information Technology, which together account for the largest share of both companies and weight. Consumer Discretionary also stands out as a meaningful contributor, while other sectors fall away more quickly.

Positioning Breakdown
Drilling down within the 0–15% bucket, the distribution is heavily skewed toward the very bottom end. The bulk of names are held by less than 1% of funds, with a sharp drop-off as ownership increases beyond that.  These are typically small, tail positions — low weight, low participation, and often used for more tactical or idiosyncratic exposures rather than core holdings.

Within this cohort, a mix of financials and domestic names features prominently. Some of the more widely held stocks (still within this low-ownership range) include Singapore Technologies Engineering, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Coupang, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services.

Early-Stage Conviction: Candidates for Broader Adoption
Comparing fund ownership against position size highlights a small subset of names held with higher conviction despite still limited participation.  While most stocks in this bucket sit with low fund weights, a handful stand out with elevated allocations relative to their ownership levels. Names such as China Yuchai, China Railway Construction and Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment show higher average weights despite being held by only a small share of funds.

There are also examples further along the adoption curve. SK Square and Huazhu Group combine higher ownership (within the bucket) with still meaningful position sizes, suggesting more established conviction.  This is echoed in the largest individual fund positions, where names like SK Square, CK Hutchison, ASM International and CNOOC appear prominently — stocks that are not widely held, but where holders are willing to allocate capital in size.

Conclusion

Asia ex-Japan portfolios show a clear barbell structure: broad dispersion in stock selection, but an increasing concentration of capital in a small group of widely owned names.

While the long tail remains large and active, it continues to lose relative importance as flows concentrate into consensus leaders. The middle of the market is increasingly transitional, with names moving through rather than anchoring portfolios.

Overall, positioning reflects a shift toward higher conviction and shared exposures, even as managers retain flexibility through a diverse set of smaller positions.

Asia Ex-Japan Fund analysis

February 26th 2026

Executive Summary

Is South Korea back in favour? The data suggests a decisive shift. After a prolonged period of underweight positioning, Asia ex-Japan managers have moved South Korea to the largest country overweight in the region. It is now the second-largest allocation overall and sits at record levels of aggregate exposure.

What is driving the move? The answer is clear: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The two stocks account for 63.4% of total South Korea exposure — a record concentration — and are held at a combined +2.8% overweight versus the index. By contrast, the rest of the country remains underweight on average.

So is this a country story or a stock story? The evidence points to the latter. South Korea’s return to overweight status is real, but it is narrowly led. This is a two-stock phenomenon rather than a broad-based reappraisal of the market.

Country Positioning
The charts below show current ownership dynamics at the country level for Asia ex-Japan active equity funds.  Chart 1 shows the average country weight across managers. South Korea is now the second-largest allocation in the region at 19.37%, marginally ahead of Taiwan (19.32%) and India (12.60%), but still well behind China & HK (35.22%). Together, these four markets dominate active allocations in Asia ex-Japan.

Relative to the benchmark, South Korea is starting to see clear support. It is currently the largest country overweight at +1.42% versus the index (Chart 4), with 64.1% of funds positioned overweight (Chart 5).  This contrasts sharply with Taiwan, where 86% of funds are underweight, at an average of -4.7% versus the benchmark.

Asia Big Four – Long-Term Dynamics

Regular readers will know this has not always been the case. The time-series charts below show South Korea’s rise through 2025.  Exhibit 1 shows South Korea overtaking both India and Taiwan to become the second-largest allocation in just 12 months. Over the same period, Asia ex-Japan funds moved from a net underweight to a clear overweight position (Exhibit 3), alongside a marked increase in the percentage of funds positioned overweight (Exhibit 2).

This was a deliberate active reallocation in favour of South Korea.

Fund-Level Positioning
Chart 31 shows the distribution of fund weights in South Korea. The bulk of allocations sit between 16% and 22%, with a broadly normal distribution and a smaller tail extending to more bullish positions above 30%.

Chart 32 shows that 60% of funds hold weights between the lower and upper quintiles of 16.1% and 22.4%. Importantly, overweight positions are clustered just above the 18% benchmark weight rather than skewed aggressively higher. Only a smaller cohort of funds sits at the top end of the range.

Stock-Level Positioning
Chart 100 breaks down South Korean ownership at the stock level. On an average weight basis, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dominate allocations. Combined, they account for 12.44% of average fund weight and 63.4% of total South Korea exposure (including Samsung ordinary and preferred shares).

Beyond these two names — which are also the largest overweight positions — ownership falls away sharply. A distinct second tier has emerged, with 25–32% of funds holding positions in stocks such as Naver Corp, Kia Corp and KB Financial.  A further 15 companies are owned by more than 10% of funds

South Korea’s Concentration Risks
The charts below highlight the growing reliance on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix within total South Korea exposure. Much of the recent increase in country weight has been driven by these two companies, while the “Rest of South Korea” (shown in green) has only recovered marginally from the lows in late 2024 (Exhibit 5).

The top two stocks now account for 63.4% of total South Korea exposure — a record high, although comparable to the concentration seen in early 2024 (Exhibit 6).  Positioning versus the AC Asia ex-Japan index is even more revealing. Managers hold the top two stocks at an average +2.8% overweight, while the remainder of the country is, on average, -1.12% underweight (Exhibit 7).

We should not interpret South Korea’s new overweight status as a broad-based shift in country conviction. This is a two-stock phenomenon.

Stock to Watch
We highlight 14 stocks that stand out in our analysis.  Chart 120 shows the long-term percentage of funds invested in stocks seeing the largest short-term increases in ownership. SK Hynix is at new highs, while Samsung Electronics is moving back towards prior peak ownership levels. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, meanwhile, has seen a notable uptick from a much lower base.

Chart 121 highlights the largest declines in ownership. Naver Corp has clearly lost momentum in recent months. Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Kolmar Korea have also failed to gain traction among managers.

South Korea’s “rising stars” are shown in Chart 122. These are stocks at record ownership levels but still held by only 5–20% of managers — meaning they are not yet fully established positions. Hanwha Aerospace and Samsung Biologics lead this group, both showing significant increases in fund ownership over the past 12 months.

Finally, Chart 123 identifies South Korea’s “fallen angels” — stocks that were once core holdings but have seen sustained declines in ownership over the past decade. LG Chem and Hyundai Mobis stand out here, now largely absent from Asia ex-Japan active portfolios.

Asia Ex-Japan

Active Asia Ex-Japan Funds: Performance & Attribution 2025

January 12th 2026

Key Data Points

• Strong Absolute Returns: Asia ex-Japan funds returned 29.4% in 2025, with a few standouts exceeding 40%. Most funds, however, clustered tightly in the 24–36% range, with little dispersion across the Style groups.

• Tech and North Asia Led the Way: Technology contributed 16 percentage points to total returns, while China & HK, Taiwan, and South Korea together accounted for 93% of overall performance.

• Cash and Stock Picks Weighed on Relative Returns: Despite strong selection in Korea and Taiwan, underweights in TSMC, elevated cash holdings, and weak Indian and Indonesian names dragged on performance.

• Active Still Holds Its Ground: Though 2025 was another year of average underperformance, passive benchmarks like AAXJ rarely match top-tier active results — reinforcing the long-term case for active management.

High Returns and Some Big Winners
2025 was a strong year for Asia ex-Japan funds, with average returns of 29.4% — marginally behind the iShares AAXJ ETF but impressive by any standard. Performance was buoyed by standout gains from a few select funds. Barings Asia Growth, LO Funds Asia High Conviction, and TT Asia ex-Japan all returned over 40%, showing what’s possible with strong stock and country selection. The top three spanned High, Medium, and Low Active risk, but with a common Growth bias.

Style dispersion was narrow, with just a 5% point gap between Yield (top) and Aggressive Growth (bottom). The bigger driver was market cap: both Small/Mid and Large Cap funds lagged, while Blend funds led. While 65% of funds underperformed the benchmark, most clustered between 24% and 36%, pointing to a tightly packed middle and fine margins around the median.

Breaking Down the 2025 Return: Tech and China Take the Lead
The 29.4% average return for active Asia ex-Japan funds in 2025 was underpinned by concentrated exposures across both sectors and countries. Technology was the dominant driver, contributing 16 percentage points to the total — reflecting both strong performance and its heavy portfolio weight. Financials, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary added smaller, yet positive contributions.

On the country side, China & HK, Taiwan, and South Korea accounted for 93% of total returns. India, despite its sizeable weight in regional indices, contributed just 0.1% — making it a key source of dispersion at the fund level. At a more granular level, India Tech and Indonesian Financials were the largest drags, though their overall impact was small.

Stock-Level Influence: A broad Mix of Contributors
2025 returns were led by a mix of dominant index names and smaller high-conviction positions. TSMC, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Tencent, and Alibaba were the top contributors, together driving 57% of total returns. But notable gains also came from further down the index, with names like Delta Electronics, Zijin Mining, and SK Square adding meaningful upside.

On the downside, detractors were fewer and had a more muted impact. Meituan and Infosys were among the more widely held laggards, while investor favourite PT Bank Central Asia also weighed on active returns.

Performance Attribution – Where Did Active Managers Win and Lose?
At the country level, the biggest source of outperformance was stock selection in South Korea, aided by a shift from underweight to overweight during the year that removed any allocation drag. Strong selection in Taiwan also helped, partially offsetting the impact of a near-record underweight. In India, while the underweight added value, poor stock selection largely erased the gains.

On the downside, cash holdings were a clear drag in such a strong year. Stock selection in China & HK also weighed on relative returns, while overweight exposures to Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the US added further underperformance.

Stock Attribution: Gains at the Top, but Losses Added Up
Active Asia ex-Japan managers saw strong stock-level gains from overweights in SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Delta Electronics, and Chroma Ate.

However, losses marginally outweighed the gains. Underweights in TSMC and elevated cash holdings together cost 1.74% in relative performance. Pain also came from overweights in weaker India names like MakeMyTrip, ICICI Bank, and Zomato, while positions in Indonesian banks added to the underperformance.

Long-Term Performance: 3rd Best Year, but Another Underperformer
2025’s 29.5% return was the third-highest since 2012, yet it marked the fourth year of average underperformance for Asia ex-Japan managers. Still, aside from 2023, the iShares AAXJ ETF has rarely ranked in the top third of the peer group and consistently trails the top performers. The case for active management remains intact.

Performance & Attribution Report

Click the link opposite for full charts and data detailing the drivers of 2025 performance, along with a review of 3-, 5-, and 10-year results across the active Asia Ex-Japan peer group.

Asia Ex-Japan

Indonesia: Asia Investors Lose Confidence

January 2nd 2026

Executive Summary
Indonesia has seen a sharp decline in fund positioning, with both exposure and participation falling to their lowest levels in over 15 years. Once a key overweight, it has shifted to a marginal, more benchmark-aligned position as managers actively reduce or exit holdings.

Over the past six months, 7.2% of funds have sold out entirely, and average weights have dropped sharply. Exposure is now concentrated in five stocks, which account for 75% of all Indonesia allocations—but ownership in these names has also fallen. The median weight sits well below the average, skewed by a handful of high-conviction holders.

In short, Indonesia enters 2026 at the weakest positioning levels on record.

Click on the Report Link below for access to the latest Indonesia Market Intelligence Report.

Indonesia Fund Positioning:  Falling to New Lows
Fund positioning in Indonesia has deteriorated, reaching its weakest levels in over 15 years. Average portfolio weights have plunged from a recent peak of 4.7% in late 2022 to just 1.86%—the lowest point since our records began (Chart 7). This decline has been mirrored by a sharp drop in participation, with only 79.6% of Asia ex-Japan funds currently holding any exposure to Indonesia, another record low (Chart 8).  This coordinated exit reflects a clear shift in sentiment. Indonesia has moved from being a key and broadly held overweight to a more marginal, benchmark-aligned position. Both the net overweight and the share of funds positioned ahead of the benchmark have declined in tandem, underscoring a widespread retreat from the market (Charts 13 & 14).

Country Activity:  Heaavy Rotation
Over the past six months, Indonesia has experienced the sharpest decline in fund ownership across the Asia ex-Japan universe. Of the 167 active strategies tracked, 7.2% fully exited their Indonesia positions between May 31 and November 30, 2025 (chart 17). The average weight dropped by 0.71%, the second-largest decline after India (chart 16).  Indonesia also saw the steepest reduction in both the percentage of funds positioned overweight and the aggregate net overweight (charts 19&20). These shifts were driven by persistent net outflows and a consistent tilt toward selling activity, highlighting a broad-based rotation out of the market.  Beyond Indonesia, India, Thailand, and the Philippines also faced similar selling pressure. In contrast, South Korea emerged as the key beneficiary, attracting inflows and increased fund interest during the same period.

Fund Weights and Distributions
Fund allocations to Indonesia remain modest for most managers. As shown in Chart 31, the majority of funds hold between 0% and 3%, with the distribution heavily concentrated at the low end and a long right-sided tail. In fact, 93% of all allocations are below 5% (Chart 33), highlighting how few funds are willing to take high-conviction positions.  The median fund holds just 1.4% in Indonesia, well below the average of 1.86%, highlighting the influence of a few outsized fund positions.

Top Holders
The extended right-hand tail in Indonesia fund exposure is driven by a handful of high-conviction positions. At the top of the distribution are two income-focused strategies – Prusik Equity Income and AGCM Asia Dividend – with Indonesia weights of 12.9% and 9.6%, respectively.  Beyond these outliers, only 10 funds hold exposures above 5%. Most of these positions are narrowly focused, typically concentrated in just three to four stocks.

Stock Holdings Picture
Chart 100 highlights the most widely held stocks in Indonesia, revealing a highly concentrated picture. Bank Central Asia leads on all metrics—held by 40.7% of funds with an average weight of 0.5%. It is followed by Bank Mandiri and Bank Rakyat in second and third place, respectively, with Telkom Indonesia and Bank Negara rounding out the top five.  These five names dominate Indonesia allocations, collectively accounting for around 75% of all fund exposure to the country. Beyond this core group, no other Indonesian stock is held by more than 6% of Asia ex-Japan funds, underscoring the narrow breadth of positioning at the stock level.

Stock Ownership Trends:  Broad-Based Decline
The chart set below tracks the evolution of fund ownership in the 18 most widely held Indonesian stocks. Charts 114 and 115 highlight where the bulk of the recent exodus has taken place—particularly among the top five names. Bank Central Asia, Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat, Telkom Indonesia, and Bank Negara have all seen steep drops in fund ownership from their peaks at the end of 2024.  This weakness extends beyond the top names. Longer-term declines are evident in other once prominent stocks such as PT Astra International and PT Semen Indonesia. Overall, there are few signs of renewed interest or positive activity at the stock level in recent months.

istorical Positioning and Gap Analysis
The rotation out of Indonesia has left current positioning near historical lows. Chart 124 illustrates this at the fund level via a Z-Score analysis of current Indonesia weights versus each fund’s historical range. A Z-Score of 100% indicates a fund’s highest-ever allocation; 0% represents its lowest. Three-quarters of funds now have a Z-Score below 30%, underscoring just how low Indonesia exposure sits in a historical context for the majority of managers.

Chart 125 reinforces this picture from a breadth perspective. The blue line tracks the total number of funds (out of 167) that have ever held an Indonesian position, while the green area shows how many are currently invested. The red line—representing the gap between the two—has declined steeply and now sits at a record low. This marks the first time that such a large share of historically active managers have chosen to exclude Indonesia entirely as we head into 2026.

AFI – Market Intelligence Report:  Indonesia

Please click on the link opposite for the full positioning report on Indonesia.  It contains 133 charts, including fund-level detail at the country/sector, industry and stock level, breakdowns by Style, Market Cap Focus and Benchmark Independence, together with a full gap analysis on past holders and potential buyers in the country.