BlackRock launches Asian special sits fund for Swan

BlackRock is to launch an Asia Special Situations fund for Andrew Swan and Emily Dong, after bringing its first Asian equities fund to the UK market last summer.

The new fund will be a concentrated, high conviction and high alpha portfolio of 30-60 domestic stocks, run with a mid-cap bias. The investment strategy will resemble the existing offshore BGF Asian Growth Leaders fund, also managed by Swan (pictured), which was launched in October 2012. Since launch the offshore fund has outperformed its MSCI Asia ex Japan benchmark, according to the group's factsheet, returning 29% to end of March versus 21%. BlackRock's first foray into Asian equities in the UK was a less concentrated fund consisting of 50-80 stocks, also managed by Swan and rep...