OREANDA-NEWS. July 15, 2015. Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) has a high yield (c 6%) and a focus on achieving total returns from a portfolio spread across the Asia Pacific region, including India and Australia. While it has no official benchmark, it has outperformed the FTSE AW Asia Pacific ex Japan index over three of the last four discrete years to 30 June.

The bottom-up portfolio aims to achieve a balance of dividend yield and dividend growth, with modest gearing in place and the ability to enhance income through selective option writing. Demand for the fund has been strong and it has issued 2.2m shares so far in 2015 to manage the premium to NAV.

At 8 July HFEL's shares traded at a 2.4% discount to cum-income NAV. The shares have fallen to a discount in the recent Chinese sell-off but traded at an average premium over one, three and five years (1.5%, 0.8% and 1.1% respectively). The current discount is within the long-term range, which has tended to be between a c 2% discount and a c 4% premium. With the highest yield in its peer group, demand for HFEL's shares continues to be strong, and the manager notes that the yield should be supported by mid-teens dividend growth in the Asian region, although currency translation could have an impact on the level of income received.

For the full report see:

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com/research/report/henderson-far-east-income1