Fund pickers have stood behind Schroder Asian Alpha Plus as Abbas Barkhordar took over the fund as sole manager, arguing that six years of co-management with Richard Sennitt, who stepped down earlier this year, means the succession changes little about how the £1.6bn fund is run.
Barkhordar became sole lead manager in June 2026, with Sennitt stepping back to focus more on other income mandates.
The fund is run on a bottom-up basis, unconstrained by the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan benchmark. It invests in companies that should benefit from long-running economic growth themes, gathered into a 50-70 strong list of names where the team has strong conviction.
Schroder Asian Alpha Plus is largely considered by analysts a core fund to gain exposure to Asian (ex-Japan) equity markets and, according to analysts at FE Investments, it has “the potential to hold up in both rising and falling conditions”.
Returns have been consistent. Over three years it has returned 81.1%, a second-quartile return in the IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan sector, and it is up 43.7% over one year, a top-quartile effort. The past three months have been rougher, with the fund down 5.3% as broader Asian markets pulled back, although the fund’s performance is slightly worse than the average peer.
Assets under management peaked in June, reaching £1.8bn according to data by FE Analytics; since then, they pulled back to the current £1.6bn.
FE analysts noted the fund’s indirect bias toward companies linked to consumer demand in the region can face pressure during periods of tighter local financial conditions. Telecom, media and technology names make up 51.4% of the portfolio, more than three times the next largest sector, financials, at 14.9%.
Below, Trustnet asks fund pickers whether the change in management alters their view.
Performance of fund against index and sector over ytd
Source: FE Analytics
Rob Morgan, investment analyst at Charles Stanley, said Schroders' Asian equity team remains one of the strongest in the region, pointing to a good track record over three and five years even after the recent short-term dip.
“Barkhordar is supported by a deep pool of regional analysts, which tends to be the driving force behind stock selection,” he said, pointing out that this is not the first handover the fund has been through: Matthew Dobbs retired in March 2021, with Sennitt taking over before Barkhordar assumed leading responsibility recently.
“Team members that work together for an extended period will tend to share philosophical similarities, albeit with subtle differences, so there shouldn't be any significant concern around a team reshuffle,” he said.
Morgan liked the focus on quality stocks with a growth bias and rated the fund a ‘buy’ as well as a core option for the sector.
Jason Hollands, managing director at Bestinvest, made a similar point about continuity, calling Barkhordar's promotion a “natural progression”.
“Abbas Barkhordar has co-managed the Schroder Asian Alpha Plus fund alongside Richard Sennitt for nearly six years and is fully immersed in the process,” Hollands said. “Abbas becoming the sole manager does not give us any cause for concern and we see this as very much a natural progression.”
He also flagged that the working relationship between the two managers extends beyond this fund. Sennitt remains lead manager on Schroder Oriental Income and Schroder Asian Income, with Barkhordar as alternate on both, meaning the pair will continue to work closely together across the range.
“Given the high degree of continuity in approach and robust investment process, we remain positive on the fund,” Hollands concluded.
Finally, Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, suggested the split had been a long time coming and simply reflects how the team already worked.
“Sennitt focusing on the income products and Barkhordar on the growth ones seems a sensible split to me,” he said, with the same division applying across Schroders' broader Asian range for both funds and investment trusts.
“[Although] the Asian income fund and trust are Richard's, and the other trust and Alpha Plus are Abbas's, they're one team and there is inevitably crossover,” Yearsley said.
“But both are high-quality products and managers.”
Investment research firms Titan Square Mile, FundCalibre and Hargreaves Lansdown have kept Schroder Asian Alpha Plus on their respective ratings lists.