Final Results

Schroder Asian Total Retn InvCo PLC

14 March 2024

Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc

FINAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc (the "Company") hereby submits its final results for the year ended 31 December 2023.

The Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 are being published in hard copy format and an electronic copy will shortly be available to download from the Company's web pages www.schroders.co.uk/satric.

The Annual Report and Accounts, including the Notice of Annual General Meeting, together with the form of proxy will shortly be uploaded to the Financial Conduct Authority's National Storage Mechanism and available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. A separate announcement will be released once this has taken place.

Page numbers and cross references in the following announcement refer to page numbers and cross references in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Enquiries:
Schroder Investment Management Limited
Augustine Chipungu (Press)	020 7658 6000
Kerry Higgins (Company Secretary)	020 7658 6000

Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023

Performance Summary

NAV per share total return*

8.8%

2022: -12.7%

Share price total return*

10.3%

2022: -17.4%

Dividends per share

11.5p

2022: 11.0p

MSCI AC Asia ex-Japan Index (with net income reinvested), sterling adjusted

1.3%

2022: -7.1%

Some of the financial measures are classified as Alternative Performance Measures, as defined by the European Securities and Markets Authority and are indicated with an asterisk (*). Definitions of these performance measures, and other terms used in this report, are given on pages 78 and 79 together with supporting calculations and sources, where appropriate.

Ongoing charges ratio*

0.87%

2022: 0.82%

Share price discount to NAV per share*

4.6%

2022: 5.8%

Revenue return per share

10.26p

2022: 12.47p

Gearing*

7.8%

2022: 9.0%

Share price

440.00p

2022: 409.50p

Net assets

£448.48m

2022: £457.47m

Investment objective

Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc seeks to provide a high rate of total return through investment in equities and equity-related securities of companies trading in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan). The Company seeks to offer a degree of capital preservation through tactical use of derivative instruments.

Why invest in the Company?

l Investing in high potential companies across the Asia Pacific region

The Portfolio Managers are benchmark agnostic, which means they can back their highest conviction ideas with an active approach that is not tied to any particular index resulting in a portfolio that is diversified across region and sector. With a particular tilt towards small and mid cap names, they focus on well-managed businesses that understand the importance of paying a good, growing dividend to their shareholders as part of an attractive long-term total return.

l Benefit from a smoother investment journey and the possibility for higher returns

The ability to select stocks that have the potential to deliver strong long-term returns is complemented by the use of a tactical hedging strategy. This focuses on delivering a smoother ride in investing compared to the Reference Index by reducing volatility and preserving capital. Altogether, this helps to mitigate some of the broader risks associated with investing in Asia.

l Rely on decades of Asian investment expertise

The Co-Portfolio Managers Robin Parbrook and King Fuei Lee have more than 50 years of combined investment experience and are renowned for their expertise in Asian equity investing. They draw upon the extensive resources of Schroders' Asia Pacific equities research team based in six offices across the region, as well as Schroders' London-based global sector specialists. This helps provide an information advantage in an under-researched and market inefficient region.

Please see page 24 for the full investment policy.

10-Year Financial Record

At 31 December		2014		2015	2016			2017	2018		2019		2020	2021			2022		2023
Shareholders' funds (£'000)		152,342		154,186	195,017			294,426	293,783		357,871		483,548	551,745			457,474		448,484
NAV per share, diluted where applicable
(pence)		208.12		211.36	267.09			354.79	321.43		365.57		479.07	507.24			434.60		461.24
Share price (pence)		194.00		190.00	255.50			362.00	331.00		368.00		489.00	506.00			409.50		440.00
Share price (discount)/premium to
NAV per share*		(6.8)		(10.1)	(4.3)			2.0	3.0		0.7		2.1	(0.2)			(5.8)		(4.6)
Gearing/(net cash) (%)*		(1.3)		1.0	7.0			4.5	(0.9)		2.2		5.7	8.3			9.0		7.8

Year ended 31 December		2014		2015	2016			2017	2018		2019		2020	2021			2022		2023
Net revenue after taxation (£'000)		2,272		3,236	3,940			4,183	6,303		7,653		8,308	9,809			13,466		10,497
Net revenue return per share (pence)		3.07		4.43	5.40			5.48	7.18		8.10		8.46	9.25			12.47		10.26
Dividends per share (pence)		3.25		3.80	4.50			4.80	6.20		6.50		7.10	8.50			11.00		11.50
Ongoing Charges (%)*		1.05		0.97	1.00			0.96	0.86		0.85		0.87	0.84			0.82		0.87

Performance¹	2013	2014	2015			2016	2017			2018		2019	2020		2021	2022		2023
NAV per share total return (pence)*	100.0	116.5	120.0			154.2	207.9			191.0		221.0	295.6		317.4	277.1		301.6
Share price total return (pence)*	100.0	112.3	111.7			153.0	220.2			204.1		230.8	313.0		328.4	271.1		299.1
Reference Index² total return (pence)	100.0	109.2	104.7			133.3	166.8			152.5		174.7	207.4		203.2	188.8		191.3

¹Source: Morningstar/Thomson Reuters. Rebased to 100 at 31 December 2013. ²MSCI AC Asia ex-Japan Index (with net income reinvested), sterling adjusted.

*Alternative Performance Measures. Further details can be found on pages 78 and 79.

Chair's Statement

"Our unconstrained approach to investing in Asia has not only delivered good returns but also provided a degree of capital protection in difficult market conditions."

Performance and background

The year to 31 December 2023 has proved to be more positive for your Company, both in absolute terms and relative to the Reference Index, after a challenging year in 2022. Furthermore, it is reassuring to see that our long-term track record remains strong. The Investment Manager's unconstrained approach to investing in Asia has not only delivered good returns but also provided a degree of capital protection in difficult market conditions.

During the year ended 31 December 2023, the Company delivered a NAV total return of 8.8%, outperforming the Reference Index which rose by 1.3%. The share price total return was 10.3% as the discount slightly narrowed.

At the start of the year, China showed promise with expectations of a robust recovery after the easing of COVID-related restrictions. However, this momentum quickly waned as domestic consumption stalled, adversely impacted by numerous factors. A weak residential property market precipitated the collapse of Evergrande (China's second largest property developer) and defaults by Country Garden (the largest private property developer) in the second half of the year. High unemployment figures and job insecurity fostered by protracted COVID lockdowns weighed upon consumer confidence. Local government debt has reached excessive levels and put a cap on infrastructure investment in the provinces. Our portfolio has remained consistently underweight China for the year under review.

However, in Taiwan and South Korea, technology stocks and chipmakers saw significant gains as investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence ("AI") continued to rise. The overweight position in Australia was also a positive, making a significant contribution to returns. Notwithstanding these beneficial asset allocation decisions, it was the strategic stock selection of our Investment Manager that accounted for the majority of the Company's outperformance during the year. In 10 of the 12 Asia Pacific markets, the portfolio achieved positive outperformance.

Further comments on performance and investment policy may be found in the Investment Manager's review.

Earnings and dividends

Whereas total return per share jumped from (65.66)p to 34.59p per share revenue return from the portfolio for the year fell by 17.7% to 10.26p per share, from 12.47p per share in 2022. This fall was primarily attributed to stock disposals throughout the year, which reduced the values of dividends received. The Board has recommended a ﬁnal dividend of 11.50p per share for the year ended 31 December 2023, an increase of 4.5% over the ﬁnal dividend of 11.00p per share paid in respect of the previous ﬁnancial year. Subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), the dividend will be paid on 10 May 2024 to shareholders on the register on 12 April 2024. The ex-dividend date is 11 April 2024.

Promotion, share issuance and discount control

The discount at which the Company's share price trades at has narrowed slightly during the review period, from 5.8% at the start of the year to 4.6% at the end of December 2023.

The Company continued actively to pursue its objective that the discount at which the shares traded remained within the Company's target of 5% or less in normal market conditions and 8,029,083 shares were repurchased during the year ended 31 December 2023, amounting to 7.6% of the issued share capital at the start of the year. The shares were repurchased at an average discount of 6.0%, for a total consideration of £32.9 million and placed in treasury for future reissuance at a premium to NAV. The Company's shares traded at an average discount of 5.5% during the year.

The Company will continue to implement both an issuance and a discount management policy. Shares will be issued at a moderate premium to NAV and the discount policy will continue to target a share price discount to NAV of no more than 5% in normal market conditions. The Board believes that overall liquidity and the relative discount to the Company's peers also has to be considered in any decision to issue and to buy back shares.

The Board will be seeking approval from shareholders to renew the issuance and buy back authorities at the AGM to be held on 24 April 2024, further details of which can be found on page 74.

Gearing and the use of derivatives

Gearing was actively utilised by the Investment Manager during the year and ranged between 4.6% at its lowest and 10.3% at its highest. Average debt was 7.9% and gearing made a positive contribution to performance. Shareholders should be aware that the use of borrowing must be seen in the context of the use of derivative hedging instruments. The Company may use gearing to enhance performance but net gearing will not exceed 30% of NAV. The Board has agreed a disciplined framework for using gearing to increase market exposure, based on a number of valuation indicators.

Positive market performance over the year limited the contribution to returns from the Company's put options, although hedging reduced portfolio volatility and thereby proved beneficial.

The Board

The Board was pleased to welcome Jasper Judd as a non-executive Director on 1 February 2023 and as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee following the retirement of Mike Holt on 25 April 2023.

As stated in the half year report, Caroline Hitch has advised that, following completion of her nine-year tenure as a Director she does not intend to seek re-election at the AGM on 24 April 2024. The Board has therefore commenced a search for a successor and engaged Cornforth Consulting to assist with the process. An announcement on the appointment of a new non-executive Director is expected to be made in the second quarter of the year.

On behalf of the Board, I should like to thank Caroline for her invaluable contribution to the Board over the last nine years and to wish her well for the future.

Results webinar

There will be a presentation by the Portfolio Managers at 12.00 noon on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 which will be available to watch online. To sign up to watch the presentation please click on this link: https://schroders.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8ZW_8RxzRnmJ5bToMMkrKQ

Details on how to watch the presentation are also available on the Company's web pages: www.schroders.co.uk/satric.

By holding a webinar, I hope that more shareholders and interested parties will be able to listen to, and ask questions of, the Portfolio Managers.

AGM

The AGM will be held on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at 1.00 pm at the Investment Manager's offices at 1 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU. Any shareholders planning to attend the AGM will also be able to watch the Portfolio Managers' presentation at the Manager's offices at 12 noon, prior to the AGM.

All shareholders are encouraged to vote by proxy. Proxy votes can be submitted electronically through the registrar's portal, by post and also by email. Details are set out in the Explanatory Notes to the Notice of AGM in this annual report.

Outlook

Geopolitical tensions remain at the forefront of investors' concerns with almost half the global population, a large proportion of which are in our region, headed to the polls this year: 64 countries will hold elections in 2024. US elections and the consequences for relations with China will predominate, along with the heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the consequent disruption to shipping resulting in higher oil prices have further contributed to the overall uncertainty. Central banks remain slow to execute forecast interest rate cuts, and weaker economic growth in China has implications for global growth forecasts and expectations for the region.

Notwithstanding the mixed outlook for global economic growth our Investment Manager will continue to seek to build superior returns by bottom-up stock selection based on extensive regional research and analysis. Earnings prospects at the individual stock level offer attractive investment opportunities while valuations remain modest compared both historically and against other developed markets. Our two Portfolio Managers are supported by a team of 40 research analysts based primarily in Hong Kong and Singapore which, together with their decades of collective Asian investment experience, place them in a strong position to identify the most attractive investment opportunities in the region.

Sarah MacAulay

Chair

13 March 2024

Investment Manager's Review

A review of 2023

2023 proved to be a much better year for the Company with the NAV producing a total return of 8.8% (Source: Schroders) (which compares to the Reference Index which rose by 1.3%). Whilst returns were moderate, markets were rather more tempestuous and volatile, buffeted by the spectre of "higher-for-longer" US rate worries, geopolitical undercurrents, decelerating Chinese and European economies, and the ominous clouds of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

So, what were the significant catalysts behind this performance?

Contributor #1: China stock selection

The largest driver of the Company's performance, notably against the Reference Index, was our stock selection in China. The Chinese stockmarket had a tumultuous year. It kicked off with a surge of investor optimism, riding high on hopes pinned on its economic reopening, only to see the enthusiasm quickly deflate amid flagging consumer sentiment, escalating youth unemployment, and a burgeoning debt crisis in the property sector. Despite several attempts by the Chinese authorities to reverse the market's downward trajectory, typically fuelled by claims of large scale fiscal and monetary stimulus, all efforts proved in vain. The year finished with the MSCI China Index recording a dismal annual return of -16.2% in sterling, a sharp contrast against the region's return of 1.3% in sterling.

Amidst these stormy market conditions in China the Company navigated its way not only through stocks we chose to invest in, but also those we strategically avoided. Our decision to steer clear of major ecommerce players like Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan, as well as sportswear giants Li Ning and ANTA, shielded the Company from the fallout of their plummeting share prices. Our portfolio's zero-weighting in the imploding property market and limited exposure to the struggling domestic sectors further bolstered performance. Meanwhile, our continued investments in Chinese consumption plays such as Shenzhou International and LVMH, coupled with a well-timed purchase of New Oriental Education, ensured that our overall stock selection in the Chinese market yielded significant returns.

That said, charting the investment course in China has never been easy or clear cut. This was particularly true in mid-2023 when, having correctly sidestepped the temptation to jump on the reopening trade bandwagon, we found ourselves staring at the emerging pool of potential Chinese stock opportunities that invariably surfaces when markets plunge by 20%. The temptation to lock in the profits from our successful large underweight position in Chinese stockmarkets at that juncture was palpable.

However, after carefully trawling through these potential opportunities, we were led to a sobering conclusion: few were truly appealing. Faced with a scarcity of promising bottom-up ideas, and with stockbrokers universally maintaining a bullish stance on China, we adhered to our investment philosophy of only investing in companies that have robust long-term fundamentals and attractive valuations. To our minds, this outcome also underscores, once again, the advantages of a benchmark-agnostic, unconstrained bottom-up investment approach.

Contributor #2: Taiwan stock selection

The second key pillar underpinning the Company's outperformance in 2023 was our investments in Taiwan technology, and more broadly, our stock selection in Taiwan. This was a mirror image of the Company's performance in 2022, when our technology positions in Taiwan had a significant negative impact on returns. Initial worries over bloated inventory levels at the start of the year gradually evaporated over subsequent quarters as signs of digestion surfaced. Simultaneously, the surging demand for AI chips, spurred by the development of large language models ("LLMs"), only served to highlight the potent structural trends underpinning tech demand, a conviction your Portfolio Managers have steadfastly held since the inception of the Schroder Asian Total Return strategy in 2007.

This shift in market dynamics sparked a frenzied investor pursuit for tech stocks with a link to AI, no matter how tangential. While the Company may have missed out on not holding sizzling AI stocks like Quanta Computer, Accton, and Wiwynn, the pain was assuaged by our investments in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation ("TSMC"), MediaTek, ASE Technology, and Chroma ATE, who also reaped the benefits of this trend. Yet, it was not just the AI halo effect that was propelling our holdings' share prices. MediaTek has benefitted by growing investor optimism over a potential recovery in the smartphone industry. The timely release of the Company's new system-on-chip, Dimensity 9300, designed to handle the more complex workloads of new generative AI and gaming applications, further bolstered this bullish sentiment. This launch, following a series of earlier designs that failed to ignite investor interest, is now seen as a game-changer that could give MediaTek a competitive edge over Qualcomm, the current leader in the high-end mobile market. A similar sentiment holds for the semiconductor stalwart TSMC, which boasts major clients like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom. While TSMC does reap benefits from the surging demand for AI chips, even TSMC concedes that these sales constitute only a small portion of its overall revenue. Nevertheless, with semiconductors powering all modern applications - from PCs and smartphones to cloud computing, AI, and autonomous cars - the long-term fundamentals of the firm continue to shine brightly.

But it was not just technology stocks that bolstered our performance in the Taiwan market. Our investments in non-technology sectors, including companies like shades and blinds manufacturer Nien Made Enterprise, fabric producer Eclat Textile, and industrial computing and automation solutions provider Advantech, also registered robust share price gains, thereby amplifying our overall stock selection returns in Taiwan.

Contributor #3: Australia and ASEAN

The Company achieved positive outperformance in 10 of the 12 Asia-Pacific markets and, despite being theoretically more efficient, it was pleasing that the Australian market emerged as a significant contributor to positive returns.

Our Company was bolstered by investments in Cochlear, a trailblazer in hearing solutions; James Hardie Industries, a titan of fibre cement production; Aristocrat Leisure, a master manufacturer of slot machines; Seek, a facilitator connecting job seekers with employers; and Medibank Private, a stalwart in the health insurance landscape.

However, these gains were somewhat tempered by our lack of exposure to the four major Australian banks and our stake in ResMed, a leading provider of respiratory care solutions. The performance of the latter has been disappointing and somewhat unexpected. This is particularly so considering that the Company posted its highest-ever annual revenues in the fiscal year of 2023. The share price was hit by worries over the threat posed by GLP-1 drugs which could potentially offer a new treatment avenue for obese individuals with obstructive sleep apnea, thereby encroaching on ResMed's revenues. This concern continues to cast a pall over its performance, even if the realistic impact of the threat remains limited, in your Portfolio Managers' view.

In addition to Australia, our outperformance was boosted by our stock selection in the ASEAN markets, which added a noteworthy 1.0% to our overall gains. This is particularly heartening, considering the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines are small and we only hold a handful of stocks.

Main detractor: India stock selection

It was not all positive. India emerged as a detractor to the Company's performance in 2023, contributing a -0.2% relative return (Source: Factset). While in the broader scheme this is not a massive drag, it still marks a regrettable milestone for your Portfolio Managers, as it is the second consecutive year the Indian market has made a negative contribution to the Company's returns. Despite the overall market weighting being in line with the reference benchmark, our stock selection within this key market failed to hit the mark, extending a period of underperformance.

The Company's lack of exposure to the so-called brown or traditional sectors, encompassing internal combustion engine ("ICE") manufacturing, fossil fuel production, cement manufacturing, and steel milling, surfaced as a significant drag on our relative performance. These sectors collectively constitute approximately one-fifth of our Company's Indian stock universe. Intriguingly, they also account for a massive four-fifths of the stockmarket's total greenhouse gas emissions - an unsurprising statistic given the environmentally harmful nature of their operations. However, our strategic decision to sidestep investments in these sectors culminated in a nearly one percent negative contribution to relative returns.

Our Company's lack of exposure to India's non-bank financials ("NBFCs") also emerged as a key detractor in a year that saw the sector undergo a remarkable metamorphosis. The NBFC landscape was reshaped by a series of significant developments, not least of which was the surge in credit demand from the small enterprise sector - the NBFCs' primary clientele. This was propelled by substantial government policy support, ranging from sector-specific production-linked incentives to initiatives aimed at promoting businesses in regions like the Northeast and those linked to technical skilling and digital technologies. These measures ignited a boom in credit demand. The Reserve Bank of India further stoked this positive momentum with a directive that provided considerable relief to borrowers, mandating that lenders return all original property documents and erase registered charges within 30 days of full loan repayment. The sector's dynamism was further amplified by the arrival of a new player, Jio Financial, following its demerger from Reliance, and the continued pursuit of NBFC licenses by fintechs, which kept the sector in the headlines. Amidst this flurry of activity, the robust share price performance of Indian NBFCs weighed on our relative performance.

While the Company did enjoy strong returns from our holdings in MakeMyTrip, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and ICICI Bank, they were insufficient to counterbalance the impact of the stocks we did not own. This resulted in an overall negative stock selection in India.

Hedging, gearing and exposure management

Our hedging policy had a relatively neutral impact on performance this year. While our net exposure oscillated between 85% and 110% (on a notional basis) over the year, the region's overall positive market performance meant that there were limited opportunities for our put options1 to enhance our returns. Nevertheless, the implementation of our hedging policy still proved beneficial, as it significantly reduced the Company's volatility compared to the region's index, resulting in better Sharpe and Sortino ratios (explained on the next page) over most time frames.

Over the course of the year, gearing levels closely moved in line with the levels suggested by our gearing models. We started the year using moderate gearing of c. 10% and reduced this to c. 5% as markets rose during the first quarter. Our gearing models turned positive on prospective returns from Asian stockmarkets after the index falls over the summer and we moved back to a c. 10% geared position. This was subsequently partly reduced back to c. 5% in December 2023 as several stocks hit our price targets. Overall, the use of gearing had a positive impact on performance.

¹A put is an options contract that gives the owner the right, not the obligation, to sell a certain amount of the underlying asset, at a set price within a specified time. The buyer of a put option believes that the underlying stock will drop below the exercise price before the expiration date.

Sharpe ratio: Risk-adjusted measure calculated by using standard deviation and excess return to determine reward per unit of risk. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the better the fund's historical risk-adjusted performance. Calculated by dividing a fund's annualised excess returns by the standard deviation of a fund's annualised excess returns. Since this ratio uses standard deviation as its risk measure, it is most appropriately applied when analyzing a fund that is an investor's sole holding. The Sharpe Ratio can be used to compare two funds directly on how much risk a fund had to bear to earn excess return over the risk-free rate.

Sortino Ratio: similar to Sharpe Ratio except it uses downside risk (Downside Deviation) in the denominator. Since upside variability is not necessarily a bad thing, Sortino ratio is sometimes preferable to the Sharpe ratio.

Wrapping up, while 2023 proved to be a rollercoaster year for Asia Pacific stock markets, we believe the Company has weathered the storms relatively unscathed. Key to performance is our continued focus on long-term fundamentals when selecting stocks. In the case of China and Taiwan our outperformance was often as much about the stocks we avoided rather than the ones we held. Frustratingly, India served as the major blot on our scorecard, marking a second year of underperformance. Despite this, the overall impact remained manageable, with the Company delivering an annual return of 8.8% versus the Reference Index return of 1.3%. This underscores our belief that an unconstrained, benchmark-unaware investing approach, focusing on the best bottom-up ideas with strong long-term fundamentals and attractive valuations, remains the optimal strategy for investing in the region.

Strategy review - musings after a month in Asia

We will keep our strategy review mercifully short this year. For professional clients that would like a more comprehensive run down we would recommend they ask their Schroder contact for our 60-page Year of the Dragon report, a perfect cure for insomnia.

Instead, for the Company's annual review we thought a summary of our observations post our recent five-week trip to the region would be of interest. The month we spent in Asia was busy and fascinating and after many meetings, including c. 50 one-on-one corporate meetings, it generated some solid new investment ideas and some interesting bigger picture thoughts.

Our first observation reviewing our company visit notes is that inflation is not an issue in the places we visited in Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand). Nearly all companies we met instead discussed weak end demand, selective discounting, increasing promotions and incentives, the need to pass on falling raw material costs, disruption, and oversupply and irrational competition from China. This applied whether it was e-commerce in Taiwan, DIY stores in Thailand, technology companies, battery manufacturers, convenience stores, bicycle manufacturers, Indonesian paint suppliers or consumer staple companies. The picture across the region was quite consistent with very few companies talking about putting up prices or claiming to have pricing power. For stockmarkets this is clearly a double-edged sword - falling inflation is likely to be positive for market sentiment but clearly pricing pressure is a headwind for earnings unless companies can eke out cost savings.

The other factor that came out of our visits was that oversupply from China in certain industries is very real and poses a threat to those companies competing with Chinese ones. This applies to multiple industries with China's economic slowdown very clearly structural and likely to be prolonged given the extent of the excesses particularly in the property and financial sectors. With weak demand at home Chinese companies are likely to be exporting their excess capacity whether this is electric vehicles ("EV"), batteries, semiconductors, solar panels, wind turbines, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, construction machinery etc etc. Chart 1 overleaf is a rather scary graph of Chinese export prices. The Chinese domestic slowdown and continued build out of overcapacity in many industries is likely to be deflationary. As Chart 2 shows for the EV and solar industries the capacity build out is huge and this is being replicated across sectors that are considered "strategic" by the Chinese Communist Party ("CCP").

The second observation from our extended trip was how visibly demographics in Asia are changing. In Hong Kong we did not get in a taxi where the driver looked under 70 years old, and whilst out hiking the many workers clearing up after the recent typhoons and thunderstorms all looked well past the age that they should be wielding chainsaws (especially after one just missed the head of one of your Portfolio Managers). Restaurants in Taiwan meanwhile were full of robot servers, and Taiwanese convenience stores are increasingly unmanned (shoplifting is less of an issue in law abiding Taipei!) whilst at Bangkok airport the same Portfolio Manager was literally run over by a robot cleaner whilst not looking where he was going (rather embarrassingly I should add). With many Asian countries facing a rapidly ageing demographic this will throw up some interesting structural dynamics particularly in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Thailand - it is an area we will be doing some more work on. We remain convinced that ageing demographics in Asia at least are likely to be profoundly deflationary - a quick cut and paste from Schroders internal Chat GPT model probably explains this as well as any:

"The impact of aging demographics on inflation or deflation is not straightforward and can vary depending on several factors. However, in general, aging demographics tend to have a deflationary effect on an economy. Here is why:

1. Decreased consumer spending: as the population ages, the proportion of older individuals typically increases. Older individuals tend to have lower consumption patterns compared to younger generations. This can lead to reduced consumer spending, which can put downward pressure on prices and contribute to deflationary pressures.

2. Declining workforce and productivity: aging demographics often result in a shrinking workforce as the number of older individuals retiring exceeds the number of younger individuals entering the workforce. A decline in the working-age population can lead to lower productivity growth, which can further contribute to deflationary pressures.

3. Increased savings and reduced investment: older individuals tend to save more and have a higher propensity to save for retirement. This can result in increased savings in the economy, which may lead to reduced investment and lower aggregate demand. Lower investment can limit economic growth and contribute to deflationary pressures.

4. Increased healthcare and pension costs: aging populations typically require increased healthcare services and pension provisions. The rising costs associated with healthcare and pensions can strain government budgets and potentially lead to reduced spending in other areas of the economy, contributing to deflationary pressures.

It is important to note that the impact of aging demographics on inflation or deflation can be influenced by various factors, including government policies, technological advancements, and global economic conditions. Therefore, it is always advisable to consider a range of factors when assessing the potential impact of aging demographics on inflation or deflation in a specific country or region."

The third observation from our trip was how supply chains in Asia are rapidly adapting to our new geo-political world. Most export related companies we met indicated they are moving some of their production facilities out of China with favoured destinations usually Vietnam, India and to lesser extent Indonesia. US end clients increasingly want all final goods whether technology products, semiconductors, window blinds, auto parts, textiles out of China - whilst European clients are happier with China plus one (or derisking of supply chains) strategies.

The question for investors then is whether the trade realignment is good or bad news for corporate earnings - and for end consumers is it likely to be inflationary as manufacturing outside China is likely to be higher cost? The evidence here is interesting and certainly not yet conclusive.

For some technology companies where the threat of Chinese competition decreases due to sanctions that work (bans on access to semiconductor equipment and key skill sets) it increases their moats or competitive positioning. This would be the case for companies like TSMC, Hynix and Samsung Electronics and other specialist Taiwanese and Korean technology companies with genuinely high levels of intellectual property.

For other industries however where we see companies adding large scale capacity outside of China, whilst Chinese competitors continue to expand their domestic facilities in China, we are likely to see very significant oversupply and major price pressures. Areas we would be particularly worried about would be EV batteries and the related supply chains, auto parts, commodity semiconductors, green energy, biotech etc - basically any industry under the American Inflation Reduction Act and/or any industry considered a strategic priority for the CCP.

The other point to note around the movement in supply chains is this is not currently a wholesale exit from China. The production moving to India, Mexico and Vietnam is often just final assembly whereas all the components and higher value-added parts still come from China. For the moment this is not a massive realignment.

Digressing slightly this had your Portfolio Managers thinking: is deglobalisation really happening and do sanctions normally actually work? The truth looks to be that neither is having much impact. As the charts below on Chinese (and German) exports to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan suggest goods are getting to Russia as middlemen facilitate trade, and latest trade numbers showing booming European diesel shipments from India suggest Russian oil is arriving in Europe just by different routes.

So, our conclusions after many company meetings in Asia and surveying evidence on the ground is that the movement of supply chains appears real, but not necessarily fundamentally large. By creating more capacity in many industries, particularly the more commoditised ones we think it may actually be disruptive and deflationary. This is quite contrary to what appears the consensus belief amongst some top-down economists in the West.

What struck us after our month in Asia is that we may be seeing the return of the 4Ds in Asia at least. The 4Ds was a presentation your Portfolio Managers used to give 10 years ago. It highlighted that deflationary forces were likely structural. These forces were Disruption (and overcapacity), Demographics (i.e. aging societies), Debt (too much debt in China and the West), and Disparity in Income (middle class incomes squeezed whilst rich do better but the rich save more of their income thus depressing overall consumption). We plan to do some more analysis on the implications but as it stands we do not see evidence of inflationary forces, or higher for longer, in Asia (quite the opposite in fact in China where the risks of a Japanese style prolonged debt deflation are rising).

What other observations came out of our trip? On a more positive note, we were struck how financially healthy most of the companies we met were. Nearly all companies we hold in the portfolio are net cash positive and nearly all committed in our meetings to maintaining dividends whether in absolute terms or percentage payout ratios. We see plenty of opportunities to make total returns in Asia even if the total return comes principally from dividends. It is particularly heartening to see increasing numbers of Asian companies like Swire Pacific announcing very large buy backs. Another positive that came from our meetings was that in most industries the painful process of running down excess inventories built post-COVID is almost complete (homewares, textiles, mobile handsets) or is well underway (semiconductors, bicycles). This means, whilst the outlook for end demand in 2024 is uncertain and visibility low, at least the double headwind we had in 2023 of weak demand and inventory clearing has gone. This left us feeling more upbeat about select export businesses in the region.

Overall then it was a great month in Asia, the first long trip your Portfolio Managers have made since pre-COVID. Overall, we left a little more upbeat on prospective Asian stockmarket returns as we enter 2024. We think inflation is likely to be less of a headwind and outside of China the economic picture in Asia looks reasonable. Company balance sheets are generally in good shape and whilst the earnings outlook is uncertain, valuations and market sentiment in the main reflect this in your Portfolio Managers' view.

Robin Parbrook and Lee King Fuei

13 March 2024

Investment Process

Responsible investment

The Company delegates responsibility to its Manager for taking environmental, social and governance ("ESG") issues into account when assessing the selection, retention and realisation of investments. The Board expects the Investment Manager to engage with investee companies on social, environmental and business ethics issues and to promote best practice. The Board expects the Investment Manager to exercise the Company's voting rights in consideration of these issues.

In addition to the description of the Manager's integration of ESG into the investment process and the details in the Strategic Report on pages 4 to 32, a description of the Managers' policy and its engagement with investee companies on these matters can be found on Schroders' website at https://www.schroders.com/en/sustainability/active-ownership/.

The Board notes that Schroders believes that companies with good ESG management often perform better and deliver superior returns over time. Engaging with companies to understand how they approach ESG management is an integral part of the investment process. Schroders is compliant with the UK Stewardship Code and its compliance with the principles therein is reported on its website.

The Board receives reporting from the Manager on the application of its policy.

Integration of ESG into the investment process

This Investment Process section of the annual report reflects the ESG views and activities of the Manager in relation to the Company's portfolio, and more widely. References to 'our' or 'we' in this section of the report refer to the views of the Manager.

Schroders has been considering ESG issues, and sustainability generally, for over 25 years.

Schroders has a team of more than 50 dedicated ESG professionals (31 December 2023) who develop proprietary ESG tools and oversee ESG analysis across Schroders.

The ESG specialists also engage directly with companies, prioritising those with exposure to higher ESG risk and low ESG ratings. They attend company meetings with portfolio managers and analysts to discuss specific sustainability issues directly with company management, in addition to financial performance, as well as engaging with company sustainability experts directly.

Corporate Governance analysts in the team also work alongside investors, and internal compliance and legal teams to ensure voting activities comply with the ESG policy.

In addition to our global sustainability resources, our Asia-based sustainable investment analysts form a crucial part of our on-the-ground resources to ensure the local investment teams are fully informed of key output from our global sustainable investment team in London. The team is also tasked to bring further insight and perspective to our ESG analysis and engagement alongside the investment team, as well as regular discussion on topical sustainability issues and ESG best practice across the region.

ESG and sustainability in Asia - the practical reality

Sustainability and ESG analysis in Asia is, in Schroders' view, of greater importance when making investment decisions than perhaps any other region in the world. Firstly, there are risks of poor corporate governance and fraud owing to family and/or state shareholder structures and poor minority investor protection. Secondly, Asia is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world and the region that faces the biggest environmental and economic costs of global warming. Finally, environmental degradation and the social costs of industrialisation and malpractice are widespread in Asia.

How does ESG analysis embed itself into the investment process for the Company?

The first section of all Asian research reports covers governance - the management, their background and track record, whether they treated minority shareholders poorly in the past, and if they are credible and professional. The Manager only invests in companies where it is believed management is trustworthy, where interests are aligned and where there is no historic record of misdemeanours. This screens out a significant part of the Asian universe.

In order to capture broader ESG considerations Schroders' Asian Equity analysts are expected to provide additional written ESG analysis for all companies under coverage. For this to be more robust and integrated, our research team has also drawn upon the Schroders CONTEXT framework as outlined in the chart below and adapted it to an Asian version ("Asia Context") using a broader stakeholder-based approach to ESG analysis.

Active ownership at Schroders

Schroders has a long history of engagement and active ownership and we have engaged with companies on ESG related matters for the past two decades. As active investors we have always considered active ownership to be a key channel of influence on management teams so that more sustainable practices are properly considered in managing the companies and assets in which we invest on behalf of our clients. We aim to drive change that we believe should better protect and enhance the value of our clients' investments and we are committed to leveraging our influence as an investor to change how a company operates for the better. These regular engagements form an important aspect of our role as stewards of our clients' capital and allow us to deploy capital in businesses with long-term sustainability of returns and shareholder value creation.

Active ownership

Enhancing our analysis

Influencing our investments

Engagement	-	Understanding how companies are preparing for the long-term challenges they face
	-	Supporting investees to take action in the areas where change may be required
Voting	-	Using our voice and rights as shareholders to encourage change

Engagement in practice - Samsung Electronics

The diagram below provides an example of our continuous engagement effort on Korea's Samsung Electronics, a core holding in the portfolio for many years. Over the years we have engaged the management team of the company in regular dialogue on a range of sustainability topics including governance, diversity and inclusion and climate change. We are encouraged to see the company taking an increasingly proactive approach in enhancing its shareholder return policies while improving its transparency and disclosure on "E" and "S" related matters.

Coupled with the favourable view that we hold on the structural outlook for the memory/semiconductor sector, we have maintained an overweight position in Samsung Electronics in recent years. The positive change in corporate governance and increasing transparency around sustainable practices have given us further confidence to hold our positions in the stock even through cyclical downcycles, as we believe the improvements in ESG have set the company on a more sustainable footing and allowed it to remain a key structural beneficiary of the multi-year trends we are seeing in technology in general (cloud, 5G, digitisation, AI, etc.).

Engaging across our priority engagement themes

Samsung Electronics

	Themes	Format	Objectives	Outcomes
Aug 2019	Diversity and Inclusion	Email IR	Encourage improvement on gender diversity.	Company committed to improving culture and launched initiatives for female employees.
Aug 2020 Mar 2021	Corporate Governance	Email IR 1x1 call IR	Improve transparency on political lobbying. Re-election of 3 directors in light of adverse ISS recommendations.	Communicated expectations on transparency and alignment. Company recognised that investor trust needs to be earned and it is something they will work on.
Oct 2022	Climate Change	1x1 call IR	Communicate climate expectations.	Company has set Scope 1 and 2 emission targets and working to develop Scope 3 visibility.
Oct 2022	Diversity and Inclusion	1x1 call IR	Improve board diversity.	Company recognised the need for more global presence on the board but highlighted their potential candidates sit on more than two seats, which will likely be opposed by ISS/GL given their max two seats over-boarding policy in South Korea.
Nov 2022	Corporate Governance	Email CEO	Raise concerns on ROE cash drag.	Communicated our analysis and concerns on valuation.
Aug 2023	Corporate Governance	1x1 call IR	Improve shareholder return policy.	The shareholder return policy is being actively discussed internally. Management expects to provide a further update during 2024.

Stakeholders addressed in engagements	Governance & Management	Regulators & Governments	Environment
Stakeholders addressed in engagements	Employees	Customers & Suppliers	Local communities

Source: Schroders, as at October 2023.

Securities shown are for illustrative purposes only and should not be viewed as a recommendation to buy or sell. We recognise that success factors may be subjective, and that Schroders' influence may not have been the sole driving force for this change. However, we believe it is important to track companies' progress and measure the outcomes of our engagement.

In summary, the Manager looks for companies with sustainable business models that are doing the right thing for broader stakeholders in order to generate the best performance for the Company.

What is the practical reality of all the Manager's ESG work? The table below shows the current positioning of the Company in sectors generally considered "sensitive". The Manager does not invest in companies where their principal activity is tobacco, coal, oil extraction, thermal utilities or agribusiness. All of these are sectors where we would question the long-term sustainability of the business model due to environmental and social factors. The Company does have exposure to gaming companies and the resource sector, but the exposure is limited to those stocks in well regulated markets where we are confident of best practice. Exposure in both industries is unlikely to exceed 10% of the Company's assets respectively.

ESG and sustainability in action - the practical reality for the Company

Sector	Reasons for Caution	Our Approach	Approximate portfolio Exposure
Agribusiness	Environmental, Social, Governance, (low barriers of entry, widespread questionable practices)	Avoid	0%
Tobacco	Social, Governance	Avoid	0%
Gambling	Social, Governance	Limited exposure to best-in-class players in well-regulated markets (Macau, Australia)	4.0% (3 stocks)
Utilities	Environmental, Governance, (national service obligations, uncertain regulations/risks of backlash against coal plants, mostly state-owned enterprises)	Avoid carbon heavy energy providers, focus on hydro and sustainable energy providers in well-regulated markets (if such a thing exists?)	0%
Auto	Environmental (regulations against the sector - too much hot money in EVs and multiple players will mean poor returns for all)	Avoid original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), minimise exposure to supply chains	0%
Resources	Environmental, Social, Governance (questionable practices such as bribery and poor environmental and safety controls concerns in Asia ex Australia)	Avoid except for Australian blue chip with minimal thermal coal exposure	4.1% (2 stocks)
Oil and Gas	Environmental, Governance (regulations, unfavourable taxes, mostly state-owned)	Limited exposure to best-in-class companies ideally with an LNG/gas focus	0%
Property	Environmental, Social, Governance (bribery issues, flooding, land clearance compensation)	Exposure principally to Hong Kong and Singapore where there are better practices and cities that "work". Outside HK/SG, only invest in management teams we 100% trust (this is a small number of companies)	3.0% (2 stocks)

Source: Schroders, as at end of December 2023. For illustrative purposes only and should not be viewed as a recommendation to buy or sell.

The table below shows a calculation of the carbon footprint of the Company's investee companies versus the Reference Index. Whilst data for these calculations can be open to interpretation, given the difficulties of measuring scope 2 emissions, the Company appears to have a very low carbon footprint versus the Reference Index. On current calculations, as illustrated below, the carbon footprint of the Company's investee companies on Scope 1 and 2 emissions is less than half of the Reference Index levels.

Top 10 Investments

as at 31 December 2023

1 TSMC % of total investments: 9.2% (2022: 7.7%)

TSMC is a Taiwanese provider of semiconductor manufacturing services, and the world's largest logic chip contract manufacturer. Its dominant position in the manufacturing of the most cutting-edge chips is a result of a long track record of R&D-driven innovation. TSMC's customers include most of the world's most advanced chip design companies, for applications ranging from smartphone processors to the most advanced AI chips.

2 Samsung Electronics % of total investments: 7.3% (2022: 6.1%)

Samsung Electronics is a Korean semiconductor and electronics manufacturing company. Its key products include semiconductors (logic and memory chips), mobile phone handsets, consumer electronics, and home appliances. As well as being the leading player in both volatile (DRAM) and non-volatile (NAND) memory, Samsung is one of only a handful of companies in the world able to manufacture the most advanced logic chips at scale.

3 HDFC Bank % of total investments: 4.1% (2022: 2.0%)

HDFC Bank is an Indian financial services provider, offering banking, insurance and mutual funds amongst other financial products. Following its merger with HDFC Ltd, the non- bank financial company, it is now among India's largest private sector financial companies, serving over 90 million customers through both traditional and digital channels. India is a relatively underpenetrated market for financial services.

4 Tencent % of total investments: 3.3% (2022: 3.2%)

Tencent is China's biggest internet company, with leading positions in mobile gaming, online advertising and mobile payments. Its WeChat app is the leading instant messaging app in China, and is a key platform for other features, such as payments and social media content, and third-party services accessed through "mini-programs" on the platform. In addition to its own operations, Tencent is a significant shareholder in several other prominent internet companies, in China and abroad.

5 DBS % of total investments: 3.1% (2022: 3.2%)

DBS is the largest banking group headquartered in Singapore. The bank offers a full range of services in consumer banking, wealth management and institutional banking across Singapore, Hong Kong and other ASEAN markets. While being the leading incumbent banking group in Singapore, it has made significant investment in revamping its digitalisation infrastructure over the years, putting the bank at the forefront of financial innovation, which is seen as a key differentiator for the bank and helps fend off the increasing competition from emerging fintech companies over the medium term.

6 AIA % of total investments: 2.8% (2022: 2.9%)

AIA is an insurance company, providing life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans, as well as financial products and services to corporate clients. Based in Hong Kong, the company operates in 18 markets across the Asia Pacific region and has sold over 40 million policies.

7 MediaTek % of total investments: 2.7% (2022: 1.7%)

MediaTek is a Taiwanese company engaged in the design and distribution of semiconductor chips. Their products focus on mobile connectivity, for example 5G mobile communication chips, as well as bluetooth and Wifi chips, and are mainly used in mobile phones, digital TVs, PCs, home appliances, wearable devices and Internet of Things devices.

8 Bank Mandiri % of total investments: 2.6% (2022: 2.1%)

Bank Mandiri is one of Indonesia's largest banks, serving both retail and corporate customers. Established in 1998 as part of a restructuring program for four government-owned banks, Mandiri remains majority government-owned. It also offers other financial services, such as insurance and securities brokerage. Indonesia is a relatively underpenetrated market for financial services.

9 Swire Pacific % of total investments: 2.1% (2022: 2.1%)

Swire Pacific is one of the leading commercial landlord conglomerates in Hong Kong, with operations spanning office/retail properties, airline and beverage businesses across China and South East Asia. Despite the challenging macro backdrop in Hong Kong/China, Swire Pacific has been navigating well given its very solid balance sheet. There is clear commitment from management to make proactive efforts in enhancing shareholder returns via a combination of share buy back, special dividends and maintaining a consistent and progressive dividend policy, which should continue to allow the company to unlock shareholder value over time.

10 Rio Tinto % of total investments: 2.0% (2022: 1.8%)

Rio Tinto is one of the largest and best managed resource companies globally, with strong cash flow generation and a robust balance sheet. The company runs best-in-class operations across its main business segments in iron ore, aluminium, copper and diamonds, energy and minerals. Its high-quality mining assets also allow it to run a lower-cost operation with longer asset life than peers, making it less sensitive to adverse commodity price movements. Given Rio Tinto's industry leading position and its commitment to carbon neutrality, the company is an integral part of the global transition into a low carbon economy, where the accelerating adoption of EVs, wind turbines, electric grids, etc. will drive structurally higher metal demand over the coming years.

Investment Portfolio

as at 31 December 2023

Investments are classified by the Investment Manager in the country of listing, except where noted. Stocks in bold are the 20 largest investments, which by value account for 56.8% (2022: 54.2%) of total investments.

	£'000	%
Taiwan
TSMC	44,683	9.2
MediaTek	13,011	2.7
Voltronic Power Technology	8,134	1.7
Nien Made Enterprise	6,901	1.4
ASE Technology	6,724	1.4
United Micro Electronics	6,487	1.3
Advantech	6,152	1.3
Merida Industry	6,022	1.2
Eclat Textile	5,449	1.1
Chroma ATE	5,382	1.1
Sinbon Electronics	3,126	0.7
Total Taiwan	112,071	23.1
Australia
Cochlear	9,220	1.9
CSL	9,007	1.9
BHP Billiton¹	9,003	1.9
Aristocrat Leisure	7,194	1.5
ResMed	7,000	1.4
Medibank Private	6,827	1.4
Reliance Worldwide	6,775	1.4
Seek	6,707	1.4
Orica	5,169	1.1
Brambles	4,930	1.0
James Hardie Industries	4,744	1.0
Incitet Pivot	3,680	0.8
Total Australia	80,256	16.7
India
HDFC Bank	19,705	4.1
ICICI Bank	9,073	1.9
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise	8,929	1.8
MakeMyTrip²	6,994	1.4
Infosys (ADR)²	5,978	1.2
Tata Consultancy Services	5,557	1.1
KPIT Engineering	3,115	0.6
Total India	59,351	12.1
Hong Kong (SAR)
AIA	13,340	2.8
Swire Pacific	10,259	2.1
Techtronic Industries	8,352	1.7
Galaxy Entertainment	6,681	1.4
Hang Lung	3,128	0.6
Total Hong Kong (SAR)	41,760	8.6
Mainland China
Tencent³	15,849	3.3
Shenzhou International Group³	7,339	1.5
Yum China³	5,450	1.1
New Oriental Education (ADR)²	5,031	1.0
NetEase³	3,939	0.8
Wuxi Biologic³	2,523	0.5
Total Mainland China	40,131	8.2
Singapore
DBS	14,922	3.1
Singapore Exchange	7,696	1.6
United Overseas Bank	6,844	1.4
Sheng Siong	4,503	0.9
Venture	4,335	0.9
Total Singapore	38,300	7.9
South Korea
Samsung Electronics	35,009	7.3
Total South Korea	35,009	7.3
Philippines
Wilcon	8,128	1.7
International Container Terminal Services	7,066	1.5
BDO Unibank	5,576	1.2
SM Investments	5,191	1.1
Century Pacific Food	4,944	1.0
Total Philippines	30,905	6.5
Indonesia
Bank Mandiri	12,571	2.6
Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk PT	1,248	0.3
Total Indonesia	13,819	2.9
United Kingdom
Rio Tinto	9,400	2.0
Total United Kingdom	9,400	2.0
Vietnam
FPT	4,458	0.9
Mobile World Investment	2,131	0.4
Total Vietnam	6,589	1.3
Thailand
Bangkok Dusit Medical Services	5,653	1.2
Total Thailand	5,653	1.2
United States
Las Vegas Sands	5,412	1.1
Total United States	5,412	1.1
France
LVMH	5,356	1.1
Total France	5,356	1.1
Total investments⁴	484,012	100.0
Derivative Financial Instruments
Index Put Options
Taiwan Stock Exchange Put Option 17600
February 2024	178	-
NIFTYM Put Option 19500 January 2024	-	-
Total Index Put Options⁵	178	-
Total Investments and Derivative Financial Instruments	484,190	100.0

¹Listed in the UK.

²Listed in the USA.

³Listed in Hong Kong (SAR).

⁴Total investments comprise the following:

		£'000
Equities		473,003
American Depositary Receipts (ADR)		11,009
Total investments		484,012

⁵The options give downside protection to 6.1% of total investments.

Business Review

Purpose, values and culture

The Company's purpose is to create long-term shareholder value, in line with the investment objective.

The Company's culture is driven by its values: transparency, engagement and rigour, with collegial behaviour and constructive, robust challenge. The values are all centred on achieving returns for shareholders in line with the Company's investment objective. The Board also sets out the effective management or mitigation of the risks faced by the Company and, to the extent it does not conflict with the investment objective, aims to structure the Company's operations with regard to all its stakeholders and take account of the impact of the Company's operations on the environment and community.

As the Company has no employees and acts through its service providers, its culture is represented by the values and behaviour of the Board and third parties to which it delegates. The Board aims to fulfill the Company's investment objective by encouraging a culture of constructive challenge with all key suppliers and openness with all stakeholders. The Board is responsible for embedding the Company's culture in its operations.

Business model

The Board has appointed Schroder Unit Trusts Limited (the "Manager"), to implement the investment strategy and to manage the Company's assets in line with the appropriate restrictions placed on it by the Board, including limits on the type and relative size of holdings which may be held in the portfolio and on the use of gearing, cash, derivatives and other financial instruments as appropriate. The terms of the appointment of the Manager, and the delegation by the Manager of investment management services to Schroder Investment Management Limited ("SIM" or the "Investment Manager"), are described more completely in the Directors' Report. The Manager also promotes the Company using its sales and marketing teams. The Board and Manager work together to deliver the Company's investment objective, as demonstrated in the diagram below.

Investment trust status

The Company carries on business as an investment trust. Its shares are listed and admitted to trading on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange. It has been approved by HM Revenue & Customs as an investment trust in accordance with section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, by way of a one-off application and it is intended that the Company will continue to conduct its affairs in a manner which will enable it to retain this status.

The Company is domiciled in the UK and is an investment company within the meaning of section 833 of the Companies Act 2006. The Company is not a "close" company for taxation purposes.

Continuation vote

It is not intended that the Company should have a limited life but the Directors consider it desirable that the shareholders should have the opportunity to review the future of the Company at appropriate intervals. Accordingly, the articles of association contain provisions requiring the Directors to put a proposal for the continuation of the Company to shareholders at three yearly intervals. The next continuation vote is due to be proposed at the AGM in 2025.

Investment model

Investment objective

The Company seeks to provide a high rate of total return through investment in equities and equity-related securities of companies trading in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan). The Company seeks to offer a degree of capital preservation through tactical use of derivative instruments.

Investment policy

The Company invests principally in a diversified portfolio of 40-70 companies operating primarily in Asia, including Australasia but excluding Japan. It is intended that the Company will have a bias to investing in small and mid cap companies.

Investments may be made in companies listed on the stock markets of countries located in the region and/or listed elsewhere but controlled from within the region and/or with a material exposure to the region. The Company will focus on investing in companies with sound balance sheets, professional management and capital allocation policies that are aligned with the interests of minority shareholders.

The use of derivatives to protect the capital value of the portfolio or for efficient portfolio management is fundamental to the strategy of the Company's Portfolio Managers. Such derivatives may include listed futures, call options, long puts, OTC instruments and instruments to hedge currency exposure with Board approval. The Board will monitor the effectiveness of the underlying process and the use of derivatives.

In order to obtain further exposure to equity indices or individual stocks, the Company may enter into contracts for difference where the underlying investments are not delivered and settlement is made in cash. In extreme circumstances, and subject to Board approval, the majority, or even all, of the Company's assets could be held in cash or near cash instruments, with appropriate diversification of cash held on deposit.

The Company may use gearing to enhance performance but net gearing will not exceed 30% of net asset value.

The Company does not tie its portfolio construction to the constituents of any benchmark; instead, the size of stock positions are set on an absolute basis reflecting where the best potential risk adjusted returns are to be found.

Investment restrictions and spread of investment risk

In accordance with its investment objective, the Company invests in a diversified portfolio with the aim of spreading investment risk, which is monitored by the Board and the Manager.

The key restrictions imposed on the Manager are that:

(a) no more than 15% of the Company's total net assets, at the date of acquisition, may be invested in any one single company or group of companies;

(b) subject to the approval of the Board, the Company may invest in collective vehicles. If it was to do so, however, no more than 10% of the Company's total net assets, at the date of acquisition, may be invested in UK listed closed-ended investment companies unless such companies have a stated investment policy not to invest more than 15% of their gross assets in other UK listed closed-ended investment companies;

(d) no more than 50% of the Company's total net assets may be invested in equities listed on a single stock exchange; and

(e) the Manager will not invest in unlisted equities other than with the approval of the Board or when entitlements are received or immediately prior to a listing.

The Investment Portfolio on pages 21 and 22 demonstrates that, as at 31 December 2023, the Company held 62 investments spread over a range of industry sectors. The largest investment, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, represented 9.2% of total investments. The Board therefore believes that the objective of spreading investment risk has been achieved.

Key performance indicators ("KPIs")

The Board reviews performance, using a number of key measures, to monitor and assess the Company's success in achieving its objective. Further comment on performance can be found in the Chair's statement. The following KPIs are used:

• NAV performance;

• Share price discount/premium management; and

• Ongoing charges ratio.

Some KPIs are Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs").

Further details can be found on page 4 and definitions of these terms on pages 78 and 79.

Promotion

The Company promotes its shares to a broad range of investors including discretionary wealth managers, private investors, financial advisers and institutions which have the potential to be long-term supporters of the investment strategy. The Company seeks to achieve this through its Manager and Corporate Broker, which promote the shares of the Company through regular contact with both current and potential shareholders.

These activities consist of investor lunches, one-on-one meetings, regional road shows and attendance at conferences for professional investors. In addition, the Company's shares are supported by the Manager's wider marketing of investment companies targeted at all types of investors. This includes maintaining close relationships with adviser and execution-only platforms, advertising in the trade press, maintaining relationships with financial journalists and the provision of digital information on Schroders' website. The Board also seeks active engagement with investors, and meetings with the Chair are offered to investors when appropriate.

Shareholders are encouraged to sign up to the Manager's Investment Trusts update, to receive information on the Company directly www.schroders.com/trust-updates/.

Stakeholder engagement

Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006

During the year under review, the Board discharged its duty under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its members as a whole, having regard to the interests of all stakeholders. As an externally managed investment trust, the Company has no employees, operations or premises. The Board has identified its key stakeholders as the Company's shareholders, the Investment Manager, other service providers, investee companies and the Company's lender. The table below explains how the Directors have engaged with all stakeholders during the year and outlines the key activities undertaken. The key decisions made by the Board during the year are set out following the table.

Stakeholder	Significance	Engagement	2023 highlights
Shareholders	Continued shareholder support and engagement are critical to the continuing existence of the business and the delivery of the long-term strategy of its business	- Annual General Meeting (AGM): The Company welcomes attendance and participation from shareholders at the AGM. Shareholders have the opportunity to meet the Directors and the Investment Manager and to ask questions. The Board values the feedback it receives from shareholders which is incorporated into Board discussions. - Publications: The annual and half year results presentations, as well as factsheets, are available on the Company's web pages with their availability announced via the Stock Exchange. Feedback and/or questions received from shareholders enable the Company to evolve its reporting which, in turn, helps to deliver transparent and understandable updates. - Shareholder communication: The Investment Manager communicates with shareholders periodically. All investors are offered the opportunity to meet the Chair, Senior Independent Director, or other Board members without using the Manager or Company Secretary as a conduit, by writing to the Company's registered office. The Board also corresponds with shareholders by letter and email. The Board receives regular feedback from its broker on investor engagement and sentiment. - Investor Relations updates: At every Board meeting, the Directors receive updates on share trading activity, share price performance and any shareholders' feedback, as well as any publications or comments in the press. To gain a deeper understanding of the views of its shareholders and potential investors, the Manager also undertakes Investor Roadshows following publications of results.	At the AGM in 2023 questions and feedback from shareholders were welcomed. The Board, along with the Manager, look forward to meeting and interacting with more shareholders at the forthcoming AGM in April 2024. The Company's web pages continued to be refreshed and enhanced during the year to optimise the user experience for shareholders and investors. Shareholders can, via the Company's web pages, subscribe to the Schroders investment trusts newsletter to receive regular updates on the Company. The Investment Manager engaged with a number of its shareholders and investors during the year and regular feedback was provided to the Board. A number of promotional activities were undertaken during the year including Investment Manager interviews, webinars and coverage in key publications. The Board continues to work with Kepler on promoting the Company through its research notes which were published twice during the year.
The Investment Manager	Holding the Company's shares offers investors a liquid investment vehicle through which they can obtain exposure to the Company's diversified portfolio of investments. The Investment Manager's performance is critical for the Company to deliver its investment strategy successfully and meet its objective to provide a high rate of total return through investment in equities and equity-related securities of companies trading in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan).	Maintaining a close and constructive working relationship with the Investment Manager is crucial as the Board and the Investment Manager both aim to continue to achieve consistent, long-term returns in line with the investment objective. The Board invites the Investment Manager to attend all Board and certain Committee meetings in order to update the Directors on the performance of the investments and the implementation of the investment strategy and objective. Important components in the Board's collaboration with the Investment Manager are: - Encouraging open discussion with the Board; - Recognising that the interests of shareholders and the Investment Manager (as well as of its other clients) are, for the most part, well aligned, adopting a tone of constructive challenge, balanced when those interests are not fully congruent by robust negotiation of the Investment Manager's terms of engagement; and - Drawing on Directors' individual experience to support the Manager in its monitoring and change management of portfolio companies, for the benefit of all of the Investment Manager's clients. The Management Engagement Committee reviews the performance of the Investment Manager, its remuneration and the discharge of its contractual obligations at least annually.	Representatives of the Investment Manager, including at least one of the Portfolio Managers, attend each Board meeting to provide an update on the investment portfolio along with presenting on macroeconomic issues. The portfolio activities undertaken by the Investment Manager and the impact of decisions affecting investment performance are set out in the Investment Manager's Review on pages 7 to 14.
Investee companies	The Board is committed to responsible investing and actively monitors the activities of investee companies through its delegation to the Investment Manager.	The Investment Management team conducts face-to-face and/or virtual meetings with the management teams of all investee companies to understand current trading and prospects for their businesses, and to ensure that their ESG investment principles and approach are understood. The Investment Manager has discretionary powers to exercise the Company's voting rights on resolutions proposed by the investee companies within the Company's portfolio. The Investment Manager report to the Board on stewardship (including voting) issues and the Board will question the rationale for voting decisions made. By active engagement and exercising voting rights, the Investment Manager actively works with companies to improve corporate standards, transparency and accountability.	The Board received regular updates on engagement with investee companies from the Investment Manager at its board meetings. During the year, the Investment Manager engaged with many of its investee companies and voted at shareholder meetings (further details can be found on page 16).
Lender	Availability of funding and liquidity are crucial to the Company's ability to take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise.	Considering how important the availability of funding is, the Company aims to demonstrate to lenders that it is a well managed business and, in particular, that the Board focuses regularly and carefully on the management of risk. The Manager manages the relationship with the Company's lender and reports to the Board at each meeting as and when required for renewals of terms or negotiation of loan covenants. The Manager provides a monthly statement of compliance of the loan covenants to the lender.	During the year, gearing was regularly considered. The Board entered into an amendment and restatement agreement in July 2023 with The Bank of Nova Scotia, London, Branch in respect of the revolving credit facility as previously amended and restated in July 2022.
Other service providers	In order to operate as an investment trust with a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, the Company relies on a diverse range of advisers to support meeting all relevant obligations.	The Board maintains regular contact with its key external providers, both through the Board and Committee meetings, as well as outside of the regular meeting cycle. Their advice, as well as their needs and views, are routinely taken into account.	Under delegated authority from the Board, the Management Engagement Committee reviewed all material third party service providers. The Board considered the ongoing appointments of its service providers to be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole and will continue to monitor their progress in the year ahead. During the year, Directors were invited to attend an internal controls briefing session, hosted by the Manager which assessed the internal controls of certain key service providers including the Company's depositary and custodian, HSBC and the Company's registrar, Equiniti.
Wider society and the environment	Whilst strong long-term investment performance is essential for an investment trust, the Board recognises that to provide an investment vehicle that is sustainable over the long-term, both it and the Investment Manager must have regard to ethical and environmental issues that impact society. Hence ESG considerations are integrated into the Investment Manager's investment process and will continue to evolve.	The Board engages with the Investment Manager at each Board meeting in respect of its ESG considerations on existing and new investments.	The Board's desire for greater engagement reporting has resulted in the inclusion of case studies showcasing how the Investment Manager supports and integrates responsible investing in its investment process set out in this annual report. Further details of the ESG practices and case studies can be found in the Investment Process section of this report.

During the year, the Board took a number of other key decisions which also fall under the Section 172 scope set out above:

• the declaration of a final dividend of 11.00p per Ordinary share (2022: 8.5p) which, following approval by shareholders at the AGM held on 25 April 2023 was paid to shareholders on 11 May 2023.

• the consideration of Board succession planning, and following the appointment of Jasper Judd as a new non-executive Director on 1 February 2023, has commenced the search for a successor to Caroline Hitch who plans to step down from the Board following the 2024 AGM.

• the implementation of the Board's discount control policy to target a discount to NAV of no more than 5% in normal market conditions.

• maintaining the Company's disciplined gearing framework, based on a number of valuation indicators to increase market exposure, which should, over the longer term, enhance returns to shareholders. The Company will also use derivative hedging instruments in addition to borrowing under the revolving credit facility provided by The Bank of Nova Scotia, London Branch, as amended and restated in July 2023.

• together with the Portfolio Managers, the Board undertook its second annual visit to the region, since the lifting of COVID travel restrictions, and visited Hong Kong and Taiwan to undertake due diligence meetings with key personnel from the Investment Manager, consultants and investee companies.

Following the year end, the Board declared a final dividend of 11.50p per Ordinary share (2023: 11.00p) which, if approved by shareholders at the AGM, will be paid on 10 May 2024.

Corporate and social responsibility

The Board recognises the Company's responsibilities with respect to corporate and social responsibility and engages with its outsourced service providers to safeguard the Company's interests. As part of this ongoing monitoring, the Board receives reporting from its service providers with respect to their anti-bribery and corruption policies; Modern Slavery Act 2015 statements; diversity policies; financial crime policies; greenhouse gas and energy usage reporting.

Diversity policy

The Board has adopted a diversity and inclusion policy. Appointments and succession plans will always be based on merit and objective criteria and, within this context, the Board seeks to promote diversity of gender, social and ethnic backgrounds, cognitive and personal strengths. The Board will encourage any recruitment agencies it engages to find a range of candidates that meet the objective criteria agreed for each appointment. Candidates for Board vacancies are selected based on their skills and experience, which are matched against the balance of skills and experience of the overall Board taking into account the criteria for the role being offered.

Statement on Board diversity - gender and ethnic background

The Board has made a commitment to consider diversity when reviewing the composition of the Board and notes the new Listing Rules requirements (LR 9.8.6R(9) and (11)) regarding the targets on board diversity:

• at least 40% of individuals on the Board are women;

• at least one senior Board position is held by a woman; and

• at least one individual on the Board is from a minority ethnic background.

The FCA defines senior board positions as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") or Senior Independent Director ("SID"). As an investment trust with no executive officers, the Company has no CEO or CFO. The Board has reflected the senior positions of the Chair of the Board, the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and the SID in its diversity tables.

The Board has chosen to align its diversity reporting reference date with the Company's financial year end and proposes to maintain this alignment for future reporting periods. The following information has been provided by each Director through the completion of a questionnaire.

As at 31 December 2023, the Company met two of the three criteria including the target in relation to the number of women on the Board and for at least one senior board position to be held by a woman. The target for at least one individual on the Board to be from a minority ethnic background was not met and the Board is conscious that while the Directors are all independent and have a diverse range of views and experience, its small composition will make these targets challenging to fully implement. Recognising the benefits of a diverse Board, it is intended that improving diversity will continue to be a key factor when the Board makes its next appointment. There have been no changes since 31 December 2023 to the date of publication of the annual report and accounts.

The below tables set out the gender and ethnic diversity composition of the Board as at 31 December 2023 and at the date of this report.

Gender identity
			Number of
	Number of	Percentage	senior
	Board	of the	positions on
	members	Board	the Board
Men	2	50	1
Women	2	50	2
Not specified/prefer not
to say	-	-	-
Not specified/prefer not to say	-	-	-

Ethnic background

			Number of
	Number of	Percentage	senior
	Board	of the	positions on
	members	Board	the Board
White British or other White
(including minority-white
groups)	4	100	3
Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups	-	-	-
Asian/Asian British	-	-	-
Black/African/Caribbean/Black
British	-	-	-
Other ethnic group, including
Arab	-	-	-
Not specified/prefer not to say	-	-	-

Financial crime policy

The Company continues to be committed to carrying out its business fairly, honestly and openly, and operates a financial crime policy, covering bribery and corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions, as well as seeking confirmations that the Company's service providers' policies are operating soundly.

Modern Slavery Act 2015

As an investment trust, the Company does not provide goods or services in the normal course of business and does not have customers. Accordingly, the Directors consider that the Company is not required to make any slavery or human trafficking statement under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Climate

Greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage

As the Company outsources its operations to third parties, it has no significant greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage to report.

Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD")

Investment trusts are currently exempt from the TCFD. The Board will continue to monitor the situation. However, the Company's Manager produces an annual product level disclosure consistent with the TCFD which can be found here: https://mybrand.schroders.com/m/4acd06a887b01a60/original/TCFD-SG12092M-Schroder-Asian-Total-Reurnlnvestment-Company-20221231.pdf.

Principal and emerging risks and uncertainties

The Board, itself and through its delegation to its Audit and Risk Committee, is responsible for the Company's system of risk management and internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness. The Board has adopted a detailed matrix of principal risks affecting the Company's business as an investment trust and has established associated policies and processes designed to manage and, where possible, mitigate those risks, which are monitored by the Audit and Risk Committee on an ongoing basis. This system assists the Board in determining the nature and extent of the risks it is willing to take in achieving the Company's strategic objectives.

Risk assessment and internal controls review by the Board

Risk assessment includes consideration of the scope and quality of the systems of internal control operating within key service providers, and ensures regular communication of the results of monitoring by such providers to the Audit and Risk Committee, including the incidence of significant control failings or weaknesses that have been identified at any time and the extent to which they have resulted in unforeseen outcomes or contingencies that may have a material impact on the Company's performance or condition.

Although the Board believes that it has a robust framework of internal controls in place this can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance against material financial misstatement or loss and is designed to manage, not eliminate, risk.

Both the principal risks and uncertainties and the monitoring system are also subject to robust review at least annually. The last assessment took place in March 2024.

During the year, the Board discussed and monitored a number of risks that could potentially impact the Company's ability to meet its strategic objectives. The Board receives updates from the Investment Manager, Company Secretary and other service providers on emerging risks that could affect the Company. The Board was mindful of the evolving global environment during the year; and the risks posed by volatile markets; geopolitical uncertainty; and inflation and corresponding interest levels which could affect the asset class. However, these are not factors which explicitly impacted the Company's performance. These risks are seen as exacerbating existing risks and have been incorporated in the macro factors, including the geopolitical/economic environment and climate change risk section in the table below.

The Board considered in detail whether there were any material emerging risks and has included the development of artificial intelligence as an emerging risk in the table below.

No significant control failings or weaknesses were identified from the Audit and Risk Committee's ongoing risk assessment throughout the financial year and up to the date of this report. The Board is satisfied that it has undertaken a detailed review of the risks facing the Company and that the internal control environment continues to operate effectively.

Actions taken by the Board and, where appropriate, its Committees, to manage and mitigate the Company's principal risks and uncertainties are set out in the table below. The "Change" column on the right highlights at a glance the Board's assessment of any increases or decreases in risk during the year after mitigation and management. The arrows show the risks as increased, decreased, or unchanged.

Risk	Mitigation and management	Change
Strategy
Macro factors, including the geopolitical/economic environment and climate change Geopolitical instability or changes to the global economic environment might materially affect the ability of the Company to achieve its investment objective. The impact of climate change on investee companies may also materially affect investment outcomes.	Geopolitical risks are an input into the investment process and are monitored at each Board meeting where there is also an opportunity to discuss key market risk factors with the Portfolio Managers. Further information on geopolitical risk is included in the Outlook section of the Chair's Statement. The Board visited Hong Kong and Taiwan during the year and met with investee companies and analysts to understand better the tensions and opportunities in the region. The risks associated with the economic environment that might impact the Company include market risk, liquidity risk and credit risk, all of which are mitigated, to some extent, by the Investment Manager. Note 22 to the financial statements provides further details of the steps taken to mitigate those risks associated with the portfolio. The Manager's investment process includes an assessment of climate related risks in the evaluation of investee companies.	é The continued increased risk reflects the changing global environment and the risks posed by volatile markets and geopolitical uncertainty.
Investment objective and promotion The Company's investment objective may become out of line with the requirements of investors and lead to the Company becoming unattractive to investors, decreasing demand for its shares and a widening discount of the share price to underlying NAV per share. The Company is not promoted in a way which generates investor demand.	The appropriateness of the Company's investment mandate and the long-term investment strategy is periodically reviewed by the Board and the success of the Company in meeting its stated objectives is monitored. The Board holds a strategy meeting each year to consider the investment objective and policy and the Company's longer term investment strategy. The share price relative to the NAV per share is kept under review as a key performance indicator and is considered against the Company's peers on a regular basis. The use of the buy back authority is also reviewed regularly. The Investment Manager and corporate broker monitor market feedback and the Board consider this at each quarterly meeting. Proactive engagement with shareholders takes place via the AGM, feedback from shareholder presentations, and ad hoc meetings with the Board. The Manager provides a dedicated experienced investment trust marketing team together with PR resource.	á â
Investment
Investment performance Poor stock selection or investing outside of the investment restrictions and guidelines set by the Board could result in poor performance.	The Investment Manager is experienced and has a long track record in successfully investing in Asian equity holdings. The Board oversees the implementation of the investment strategy, compliance with investment restrictions and guidelines and keeps investment performance under close review. The Portfolio Managers attend all Board meetings and review the portfolio with the Board using performance data and KPIs. A detailed formal appraisal of the performance of the Manager is carried out annually by the Management Engagement Committee.	á â
Key person The departure of one or more of the Manager's key investment professionals could impact the Company's performance.	The Investment Manager has a compensation and incentive scheme to recruit and retain key staff including the Portfolio Managers, and has developed a suitable succession planning programme, which seeks to ease the impact that the loss of a key investment professional may have on the Company's performance. The Investment Manager would notify any change in its key professionals to the Board at the earliest possible opportunity and the Board would be made aware of all efforts made to fill a vacancy. Investment decisions are made by a team of professionals, mitigating the impact of the loss of any key professional within the Manager's organisation on the Company's performance.	á â
ESG considerations Failure by the Company to disclose in an appropriate manner how the investment process integrates consideration of ESG factors could lead to the Company's shares being less attractive to investors as well as potential valuation issues in the underlying investee companies.	The consideration of climate change risks and ESG factors is integrated into the investment process and reported at Board meetings. The Investment Manager considers and evaluates the approach investee companies take to recognise and mitigate climate change risks and also considers the portfolio's investee companies carbon footprint versus the Reference Index. The Manager has implemented a comprehensive ESG policy outlined in detail on pages 15 to 18.	á â
Gearing/liquidity The Company adopts an inappropriate gearing or derivative strategy. The Company's investments are insufficiently liquid resulting in breach of loan covenants in the event of a severe fall in valuations.	The Board sets gearing limits of 30% of net asset value and the Investment Manager reports to the Board on gearing levels and derivative activity at every Board meeting. Liquidity stress testing is carried out on a regular basis.	á â
Compliance
Compliance with regulations Failure to comply with relevant laws and regulations could result in fines, loss of reputation and potentially loss of investment trust status.	The Board and Manager monitor changes in government policy and legislation which may have an impact on the Company, and the Audit and Risk Committee monitors compliance with regulations by reviewing internal control reports from the Manager. From time to time the Board employs external advisers to advise on specific matters.	á â
Operational
Oversight of service providers The Company has no employees and has delegated certain functions to a number of service providers. Failure of controls, including as a result of fraud, and poor performance of any service provider, could lead to disruption, reputational damage or loss.	The Board receives reports from the Manager on its internal controls and risk management throughout the year, including those relating to cybersecurity, and receives assurances from all its other significant service providers on at least an annual basis. The Management Engagement Committee reviews the performance of key service providers at least annually. The Manager also monitors closely the control environments and quality of services provided by third parties, including those of the Depositary, through service level agreements and regular meetings. Directors are invited to an annual internal controls briefing session, hosted by the Manager in respect of the internal controls of the Company's key service providers including the Company's Depositary and custodian, HSBC, the Company's registrar, Equiniti, and Schroders Group Internal Audit team. Experienced service providers are appointed by the Company subject to due diligence processes and clearly documented contractual arrangements which include agreed service level specifications and notice periods for terminations. Further details of the internal controls which are in place are set out in the Audit and Risk Committee's Report on pages 39 to 41.	á â
Information technology resilience and security Cyber risk such as fraud, sabotage or crime perpetrated against the Company or any of its third party service providers could result in data theft, service disruption and reputational damage.	Cybersecurity is closely monitored by the Audit and Risk Committee as part of the review of the internal controls of its service providers. Schroders IT security team present to the Directors on the Manager's cybersecurity controls as part of the annual internal controls briefing session hosted by Schroders.	á â
Financial The Company is exposed to a range of financial risks including market, liquidity, interest rate, credit and fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities.	See note 22 for a detailed analysis of these risks.	á â
Emerging risk

Artificial Intelligence ("AI")

The development of AI presents potential risks to businesses in almost every sector. The extent of the risk presented by AI is extremely hard to assess at this point but the Board considers that it is an emerging risk and together with the Manager will monitor developments in this area.

Viability statement

The Directors have assessed the viability of the Company over the five year period ending 31 December 2028, taking into account the Company's position at 31 December 2023 and the potential impact of the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties it faces for the review period. This is further detailed in the Chair's Statement, Investment Manager's Review and principal risks and uncertainties sections of this report. The Directors have assessed the Company's operational resilience and they are satisfied that the Company's outsourced service providers will continue to operate effectively.

The Board believes that a period of five years reflects a suitable time horizon for strategic planning, taking into account the investment policy, liquidity of investments, potential impact of economic cycles, nature of operating costs, dividends and availability of funding.

In its assessment of the viability of the Company, the Directors have considered each of the Company's principal and emerging risks and uncertainties detailed on pages 29 to 31, including the impact of climate-related risks.

In preparing these financial statements the Directors have considered the impact of the Company's emerging risks as set out on page 31, and have concluded that there was no further impact to be taken into account as investments are valued based on market pricing. In line with FRS102 investments are valued at fair value, which for the Company are quoted bid prices for investments in active markets at the statement of financial position date and therefore reflect market participants' views of emerging risks on the investments held.

The Directors considered the beneficial tax treatment the Company is eligible for as an investment trust. If changes to these taxation arrangements were to be made it would affect the viability of the Company to act as an effective investment vehicle.

The Directors reviewed a stress test in which the Company's NAV dropped by 50% and noted that, based on the assumptions in the test, the Company would continue to be viable over a five year period.

Whilst the Company's articles of association require that a proposal for the continuation of the Company be put forward at the Company's AGM in 2025, the Directors have no reason to believe that such a resolution will not be passed by shareholders.

The Directors have also considered the Company's income and expenditure projections and the fact that the Company's investments comprise readily realisable securities which can be sold to meet funding requirements if necessary. Based on the Company's processes for monitoring operating costs, the Board's view that the Manager has the appropriate depth and quality of resource to achieve superior returns in the longer term, the portfolio risk profile, limits imposed on gearing, counterparty exposure, liquidity risk and financial controls, the Directors have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the Company will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the five year period of their assessment.

Going concern

The Directors have assessed the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties and the matters referred to in the viability statement. The Directors noted the Company's portfolio is comprised of liquid stocks, and the Company's operating expenses are predominantly variable costs, which would fall pro-rata in the event of a severe market downturn. Based on the work the Directors have performed, they have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for the period assessed by the Directors, being the period to 31 March 2025 which is at least 12 months from the date the financial statements are authorised for issue.

By order of the Board

Schroder Investment Management Limited

Company Secretary

13 March 2024

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities

Directors' Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the annual report, and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards, comprising Financial Reporting Standard ("FRS") 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and applicable law). Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the return or loss of the Company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards, comprising FRS 102, have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

- notify the Company's shareholders in writing about the use of disclosure exemptions in FRS 102, used in the preparation of the financial statements; and

- prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the Directors' Remuneration Report comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Manager is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the web pages dedicated to the Company. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Directors' Statement

Each of the Directors, whose names and functions are listed on pages 34 and 35, confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

- the financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law), give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and net return of the Company;

- the Strategic Report contained in the report and accounts includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company, together with a description of the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties that it faces; and

- the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company's position and performance, business model and strategy.

On behalf of the Board

Sarah MacAulay

Chair

13 March 2024

Financial

Income Statement

for the year ended 31 December 2023

		2023			2022
		Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	Note	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Gains/(losses) on investments held at fair value
through profit or loss	2	-	28,264	28,264	-	(86,397)	(86,397)
Net (losses)/gains on derivative contracts		-	(1,991)	(1,991)	-	9,487	9,487
Net foreign currency gains/(losses)		-	1,846	1,846	-	(5,341)	(5,341)
Income from investments	3	13,568	1,639	15,207	16,278	63	16,341
Other interest receivable and similar income	3	180	-	180	34	-	34
Gross return/(loss)		13,748	29,758	43,506	16,312	(82,188)	(65,876)
Management fee	4	(763)	(2,288)	(3,051)	(809)	(2,427)	(3,236)
Performance fee	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Administrative expenses	5	(862)	-	(862)	(720)	-	(720)
Net return/(loss) before finance costs and taxation		12,123	27,470	39,593	14,783	(84,615)	(69,832)
Finance costs	6	(695)	(2,084)	(2,779)	(300)	(903)	(1,203)
Net return/(loss) before taxation		11,428	25,386	36,814	14,483	(85,518)	(71,035)
Taxation	7	(931)	(505)	(1,436)	(1,017)	1,129	112
Net return/(loss) after taxation		10,497	24,881	35,378	13,466	(84,389)	(70,923)
Return/(loss) per share (pence)	8	10.26	24.33	34.59	12.47	(78.13)	(65.66)

The "Total" column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the Company. The "Revenue" and "Capital" columns represent supplementary information prepared under guidance issued by the AIC. The Company has no other items of other comprehensive income, and therefore the net return/(loss) after taxation is also the total comprehensive income/(loss) for the year.

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the year.

The notes on pages 59 to 72 form an integral part of these accounts.

Statement of Changes in Equity

for the year ended 31 December 2023

		Called-up		Capital
		share	Share	redemption	Special	Capital	Revenue
		capital	premium	reserve	reserve	reserves	reserve	Total
	Note	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 31 December 2021		5,439	113,004	11,646	29,182	370,969	21,505	551,745
Issue of new shares		17	1,652	-	-	-	-	1,669
Repurchase of the Company's own shares
into treasury		-	-	-	-	(15,742)	-	(15,742)
Net (loss)/return after taxation		-	-	-	-	(84,389)	13,466	(70,923)
Dividend paid in the year	9	-	-	-	-	-	(9,275)	(9,275)
At 31 December 2022		5,456	114,656	11,646	29,182	270,838	25,696	457,474
Repurchase of the Company's own shares
into treasury		-	-	-	-	(32,936)	-	(32,936)
Net return after taxation		-	-	-	-	24,881	10,497	35,378
Dividend paid in the year	9	-	-	-	-	-	(11,432)	(11,432)
At 31 December 2023		5,456	114,656	11,646	29,182	262,783	24,761	448,484

The notes on pages 59 to 72 form an integral part of these accounts.

Statement of Financial Position

at 31 December 2023

		2023	2022
	Note	£'000	£'000
Fixed assets
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	10	484,012	499,305
Current assets
Debtors	11	1,194	517
Cash and cash equivalents	11	2,527	5,161
Derivative financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss	11	178	-
		3,899	5,678
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	12	(38,841)	(47,509)
Net current liabilities		(34,942)	(41,831)
Total assets less current liabilities		449,070	457,474
Non current liabilities
Deferred taxation	13	(586)	-
Net assets		448,484	457,474
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital	14	5,456	5,456
Share premium	15	114,656	114,656
Capital redemption reserve	15	11,646	11,646
Special reserve	15	29,182	29,182
Capital reserves	15	262,783	270,838
Revenue reserve	15	24,761	25,696
Total equity shareholders' funds		448,484	457,474
Net asset value per share (pence)	16	461.24	434.60

These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the board of directors on 13 March 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Sarah MacAulay

Chair

The notes on pages 59 to 72 form an integral part of these accounts.

Registered in England and Wales as a public company limited by shares

Company registration number: 02153093

Cash Flow Statement

for the year ended 31 December 2023

		2023	2022
	Note	£'000	£'000
Net cash inflow from operating activities	17	10,928	11,019
Investing activities
Purchases of investments		(115,573)	(151,044)
Sales of investments		158,529	165,507
Net cash flows on derivative instruments		(2,169)	8,938
Net cash inflow from investing activities		40,787	23,401
Net cash inflow before financing		51,715	34,420
Financing activities
Dividends paid		(11,432)	(9,275)
Interest paid		(2,732)	(1,122)
Bank loans repayment		(6,530)	-
Bank loans drawn down		-	18,237
Issue of shares		-	1,669
Repurchase of the Company's own shares into treasury		(33,222)	(15,451)
Net cash outflow from financing activities		(53,916)	(5,942)
Net cash (outflow)/inflow in the year	18	(2,201)	28,478
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year		5,161	(23,107)
Change in cash and cash equivalents		(2,201)	28,478
Exchange movements		(433)	(210)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		2,527	5,161

Dividends received during the year amounted to £15,263,000 (2022: £16,365,000) and deposit interest receipts amounted to £178,000 (2022: £31,000).

The notes on pages 59 to 72 form an integral part of these accounts.

Notes to the Accounts

1. Accounting policies

(a) Basis of accounting

Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc (the "Company") is registered in England and Wales as a public company limited by shares. The Company's registered office is 1 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU.

The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice ("UK GAAP"), in particular in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland", and with the Statement of Recommended Practice "Financial Statements of Investment Trust Companies and Venture Capital Trusts" (the "SORP") issued by the Association of Investment Companies in July 2022. All of the Company's operations are of a continuing nature.

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of investments and derivative financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss. The Directors believe that the Company has adequate resources to continue operating for the period to 31 March 2025, which is at least 12 months from the date of approval of these accounts. In forming this opinion, the Directors have taken into consideration: the controls and monitoring processes in place; the Company's low level of debt and other payables; the low level of operating expenses, comprising largely variable costs which would reduce pro rata in the event of a market downturn; and that the Company's assets comprise cash and readily realisable securities quoted in active markets. In forming this opinion, the Directors have also considered any potential impact of climate change on the viability of the Company. Further consideration of Directors' considerations regarding any potential impact of climate change are given in the Chair's Statement, Investment Managers' Review, Going Concern Statement, Viability Statement and in the principal risks and uncertainties on page 29.

In preparing these financial statements the Directors have also considered the impact of climate change on the value of the listed investments that the company holds. As the portfolio consists of listed equities, which are valued using quoted bid prices for investments in an active market, the fair value reflects market participants' view of climate change risk.

The accounts are presented in sterling and amounts have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

The accounting policies applied to these accounts are consistent with those applied in the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022.

No significant judgements, estimates or assumptions have been required in the preparation of the accounts for the current or prior financial year.

(b) Valuation of investments

The Company's business is investing in financial assets with a view to profiting from their total return in the form of income and capital growth. This portfolio of financial assets and derivative financial instruments is managed, and its performance evaluated, on a fair value basis, in accordance with a documented investment strategy and information is provided internally on that basis to the Company's Board of Directors. Accordingly, upon initial recognition the investments are classified by the Company as "held at fair value through profit or loss". Investments are included initially at transaction price, excluding expenses incidental to purchase, which are written off to capital at the time of acquisition. Subsequently, investments are valued at fair value, which are quoted bid prices at the close of each market on the accounting date, for investments traded in active markets.

All purchases and sales are accounted for on a trade date basis.

Gains and losses on sales of investments are included in the Income Statement and in capital reserves within "gains and losses on sales of investments". Increases and decreases in the valuation of investments held at the year end are included in the Income Statement and in capital reserves within "holding gains and losses on investments".

Foreign exchange gains and losses on cash and deposit balances are included in the Income Statement and in capital reserves.

The cost of repurchasing the Company's own shares for cancellation or to hold in treasury, including the related stamp duty and transactions costs is charged to a distributable capital reserve.

(d) Income

Dividends receivable are included in revenue on an ex-dividend basis except where, in the opinion of the Board, the dividend is capital in nature, in which case it is included in capital.

Dividends from overseas companies are included gross of any withholding tax.

Where the Company has elected to receive dividends in the form of additional shares rather than in cash, the amount of the cash dividend foregone is recognised in revenue. Any excess in the value of the shares received over the amount of the cash dividend is recognised in capital.

Deposit interest outstanding at the year end is calculated and accrued on a time apportionment basis using market rates of interest.

(e) Expenses

All expenses are accounted for on an accruals basis. Expenses are allocated wholly to the revenue column of the Income Statement with the following exceptions:

- The management fee is allocated 25% to revenue and 75% to capital in line with the Board's expected long-term split of revenue and capital return from the Company's investment portfolio.

- Any performance fee is allocated 100% to capital.

- Expenses incidental to the purchase or sale of an investment are charged to capital. These expenses are commonly referred to as transaction costs and mainly comprise brokerage commission. Details of transaction costs are given in note 10 on page 63.

(f) Finance costs

Finance costs are accounted for on an accruals basis using the effective interest method in accordance with FRS 102.

Finance costs are allocated 25% to revenue and 75% to capital in line with the Board's expected long-term split of revenue and capital return from the Company's investment portfolio.

(g) Other financial instruments

Cash and cash equivalents may comprise cash and demand deposits which are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to insignificant risk of changes in value.

Other debtors and creditors do not carry any interest, are short-term in nature and are accordingly stated at nominal value, with debtors reduced by appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts.

Bank loans and overdrafts are initially recognised at cost, being the proceeds received net of direct issue costs, and subsequently at amortised cost.

(h) Taxation

The tax charge for the year includes a provision for all amounts expected to be received or paid.

Deferred tax is provided on all timing differences that have originated but not reversed by the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for all taxable timing differences but deferred tax assets are only recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which those timing differences can be utilised.

Deferred tax is measured at the tax rate which is expected to apply in the periods in which the timing differences are expected to reverse, based on tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and is measured on an undiscounted basis.

(i) Value added tax ("VAT")

Expenses are disclosed inclusive of any related irrecoverable VAT.

(j) Foreign currency

In accordance with FRS 102, the Company is required to determine a functional currency, being the currency in which the Company predominantly operates. The Board, having regard to the currency of the Company's share capital and the predominant currency in which its shareholders operate, has determined that sterling is the functional currency and the currency in which the accounts are presented.

Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are converted at actual exchange rates as at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets, liabilities and equity investments, denominated in foreign currencies at the year end, are translated at the rates of exchange prevailing at the year end.

(k) Dividends payable

In accordance with FRS 102, the final dividend is included in the accounts in the year in which it is approved by shareholders.

(l) Repurchases of shares into treasury and subsequent reissues

The cost of repurchasing shares into treasury, including the related stamp duty and transaction costs is dealt with in the Statement of Changes in Equity. The cost of repurchases of shares into treasury is charged to a distributable capital reserve. Share repurchase transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis.

The sales proceeds of treasury shares reissued are treated as a realised profit up to the amount of the purchase price of those shares and is transferred to capital reserves. The excess of the sales proceeds over the purchase price is transferred to "share premium".

2. Gains/(losses) on investments held at fair value through profit or loss

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Gains/(losses) on sales of investments based on historic cost	22,776	(4,066)
Amounts recognised in investment holding gains and losses in the previous year in respect of
investments sold in the year	(21,733)	(39,534)
Gains/(losses) on sales of investments based on the carrying value at the previous balance sheet date	1,043	(43,600)
Net movement in investment holding gains and losses	27,221	(42,797)
Gains/(losses) on investments held at fair value through profit or loss	28,264	(86,397)

3. Income

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Income from investments
Overseas dividends	12,934	15,480
Overseas special dividends	601	735
Stock dividend	33	63
	13,568	16,278
Other interest receivable and similar income
Deposit interest	180	34
	13,748	16,312
Capital
Special dividend allocated to capital	1,639	63

4. Management and performance fee

	2023			2022
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Management fee	763	2,288	3,051	809	2,427	3,236

No performance fee is payable for the current or prior year and no provision is required at 31 December 2023.

The basis for calculating the management and performance fees are set out in the Report of the Directors on page 37 and details of all amounts payable to the Manager are given in note 19 on page 67.

5. Administrative expenses

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Custody fees	208	235
Administrative expenses	363	212
Directors' fees¹	164	155
Secretarial fee	75	75
Auditor's remuneration²	52	43
	862	720

¹Details of all amounts payable to Directors are given in the Directors' Remuneration Report on page 46.

²No amounts are payable to the auditor for non-audit services.

6. Finance costs

	2023			2022
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Interest on bank loans and overdrafts	695	2,084	2,779	300	903	1,203

7. Taxation

(a) Analysis of tax charge for the year

	2023			2022
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Irrecoverable overseas tax	931	-	931	1,017	-	1,017
Overseas capital gains tax	-	505	505	-	(1,129)	(1,129)
Taxation for the year	931	505	1,436	1,017	(1,129)	(112)

The Company has no corporation tax liability for the year (2022: nil).

The overseas capital gains tax relates to the deferred tax liability on unrealised gains on Indian investments held at the year end.

(b) Factors affecting tax charge for the year

The standard rate of corporation tax in the UK is 25%, effective from 1 April 2023. Accordingly, the Company's profits for this accounting year would be taxed at a rate of 23.5% (2022: 19.0%). However the corporation tax charge for the year is nil (2022: nil), as dividends and capital gains are not subject to corporation tax. The tax charge comprises irrecoverable withholding tax deducted at source from dividends receivable and overseas capital gains tax.

The table below shows how taxable income is reduced to zero by reconciling the expected corporation tax due on the net return before tax based on current tax rates, to the actual tax charge for the year.

	2023			2022
	Revenue	Capital	Total	Revenue	Capital	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Net return/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation	11,428	25,386	36,814	14,483	(85,518)	(71,035)
Net return/(loss)on ordinary activities before taxation multiplied by
the Company's applicable rate of corporation tax for the year
of 23.5% (2022: 19.0%)	2,686	5,966	8,652	2,752	(16,248)	(13,496)
Effects of:
Capital (gains)/losses on investments	-	(6,608)	(6,608)	-	15,628	15,628
Income not subject to taxation	(3,161)	(385)	(3,546)	(3,071)	(12)	(3,083)
Overseas capital gains tax	-	505	505	-	(1,129)	(1,129)
Irrecoverable overseas tax	931	-	931	1,017	-	1,017
Unrelieved expenses	475	1,027	1,502	319	632	951
Tax on ordinary activities	931	505	1,436	1,017	(1,129)	(112)

The Company has an unrecognised deferred tax asset of £17,738,000 (2022: £16,139,000) based on a prospective corporation tax rate of 25% (2022: 25%). In its 2021 budget, the government announced that the main rate of corporation tax would increase to 25% for the fiscal year beginning on 1 April 2023. This deferred tax asset has arisen due to the cumulative excess of deductible expenses over taxable income. Given the composition of the Company's portfolio, it is not likely that this asset will be utilised in the foreseeable future and therefore no asset has been recognised in the accounts.

Given the Company's intention to meet the conditions required to retain its status as an Investment Trust Company, no provision has been made for UK capital gains tax on any capital gains or losses arising on the revaluation or disposal of investments. Please refer to note 13 for details of deferred taxation in relation to overseas capital gains tax.

8. Return/(loss) per share

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Revenue return	10,497	13,466
Capital return/(loss)	24,881	(84,389)
Total return/(loss)	35,378	(70,923)
Weighted average number of shares in issue during the year	102,272,753	108,005,903
Revenue return per share (pence)	10.26	12.47
Capital return/(loss) per share (pence)	24.33	(78.13)
Total return/(loss) per share (pence)	34.59	(65.66)

9. Dividends

(a) Dividends paid and declared

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
2022 final dividend of 11.0p per share (2021: 8.5p per share), paid out of revenue profits¹	11,432	9,275

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
2023 final dividend of 11.5p per share (2022: 11.0p per share), to be paid out of revenue profits	11,182	11,579

¹The 2022 final dividend amounted to £11,579,000. However the amount actually paid was £11,432,000, as shares were repurchased into treasury after the accounting date but prior to the dividend record date.

(b) Dividends for the purposes of Section 1158 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 ("Section 1158")

The requirements of Section 1158 are considered on the basis of dividends declared in respect of the financial year as shown below. The revenue available for distribution by way of dividend for the year is £10,497,000 (2022: £13,466,000).

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Final dividend of 11.5p (2022: 11.0p)	11,182	11,579

10. Investments held at fair value through profit or loss

(a) Movement in investments

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Opening book cost	391,040	409,406
Opening investment holding gains	108,265	190,596
Opening fair value	499,305	600,002
Analysis of transactions made during the year
Purchases at cost	115,788	151,107
Sales proceeds	(159,345)	(165,407)
Gains/(losses) on investments held at fair value	28,264	(86,397)
Closing fair value	484,012	499,305
Closing book cost	370,259	391,040
Closing investment holding gains	113,753	108,265
Closing fair value	484,012	499,305

Sales proceeds amounting to £159,345,000 (2022: £165,407,000) were receivable from disposals of investments in the year. The book cost of these investments when they were purchased was £136,568,000 (2022: £169,473,000). These investments have been revalued over time and until they were sold any unrealised gains and losses were included in the fair value of the investments.

(b) Transaction costs

The following transaction costs, mainly comprising brokerage commissions, were incurred during the year:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
On acquisitions	170	197
On disposals	264	337
	434	534

11. Current assets

Debtors

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Dividends and interest receivable	346	484
Securities sold awaiting settlement	816	-
Taxation recoverable	8	10
Other debtors	24	23
	1,194	517

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of debtors approximates to their fair value.

Cash and cash equivalents

The carrying amount of cash, amounting to £2,527,000 (2022: £5,161,000), represents its fair value. No cash equivalents were held at the year end (2022: same).

Derivative financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Index put options	178	-

Details of the index put options held at the year end are given on page 22.

12. Current liabilities

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Bank loan	37,339	46,148
Securities purchases awaiting settlement	122	-
Repurchase of ordinary shares into treasury awaiting settlement	-	285
Other creditors and accruals	1,380	1,076
	38,841	47,509

The Directors consider that the carrying amount of creditors falling due within one year approximates to their fair value.

The bank loan comprises US$47.6 million (2022: US$55.5 million) drawn down on the Company's £75 million (2022: £50 million), 364 day multi-currency credit facility with Scotiabank Europe plc. The facility is unsecured but is subject to covenants and restrictions which are customary for a facility of this nature, all of which have been complied with during the year. The facility is reviewed annually, at which point the Directors can decide to restate and renew the facility for a further year. Further details of this facility are given in note 22(a)(ii) on pages 69 and 70.

13. Deferred taxation

Deferred taxation comprises the deferred tax liability on the unrealised gains on Indian investments. Indian capital gains tax crystallises on disposal of the underlying asset. The provision for deferred taxation at the year end was £586,000 (2022: £nil).

14. Called-up share capital

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Ordinary shares of 5p each, allotted, called-up and fully paid
Opening balance of 105,263,203 (2022: 108,774,651) shares	5,263	5,439
Issue of nil (2022: 340,000) new shares	-	17
Repurchase of 8,029,083 (2022: 3,851,448) shares into treasury	(401)	(193)
Subtotal of 97,234,120 (2022: 105,263,203) shares	4,862	5,263
11,880,531 (2022: 3,851,448) shares held in treasury	594	193
Closing balance¹	5,456	5,456

¹Represents 109,114,651 (2022: 109,114,651) shares of 5p each, including 11,880,531 (2022: 3,851,448) held in treasury.

During the year, the Company repurchased 8,029,083 of its own shares, nominal value £401,000, to hold in treasury, representing 7.6% of the shares outstanding at the beginning of the year. The total consideration paid for these shares amounted to £32,936,000. The reason for these purchases was to seek to manage the volatility of the share price discount to NAV per share.

15. Reserves

								Capital reserves
								Gains and		Investment
				Capital				losses on		holding
		Share		redemption		Special		sales of		gains and		Revenue
		premium¹		reserve²		reserve³		investments⁴		losses⁵		reserve⁶
		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
At 31 December 2022		114,656		11,646		29,182		167,204		103,634		25,696
Gains on sales of investments based on the carrying value
at the previous balance sheet date		-		-		-		1,043		-		-
Net movement in investment holding gains and losses		-		-		-		-		27,221		-
Transfer on disposal of investments		-		-		-		21,733		(21,733)		-
Losses on derivatives		-		-		-		(1,627)		(364)		-
Realised exchange losses on cash and short-term deposits		-		-		-		(433)		-		-
Exchange (losses)/gains on foreign currency loans		-		-		-		(632)		2,911		-
Special dividend allocated to capital		-		-		-		1,639		-		-
Repurchase of shares into treasury		-		-		-		(32,936)		-		-
Management fee and finance costs allocated to capital		-		-		-		(4,372)		-		-
Overseas capital gains tax		-		-		-		88		(593)		-
Dividend paid		-		-		-		-		-		(11,432)
Retained revenue for the year		-		-		-		-		-		10,497
At 31 December 2023		114,656		11,646		29,182		151,707		111,076		24,761
							Capital reserves
							Gains and		Investment
			Capital				losses on		holding
	Share		redemption		Special		sales of		gains and		Revenue
	premium¹		reserve²		reserve³		investments⁴		losses⁵		reserve⁶
	£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000		£'000
At 31 December 2021	113,004		11,646		29,182		182,021		188,948		21,505
Losses on sales of investments based on the carrying value
at the previous balance sheet date	-		-		-		(43,600)		-		-
Net movement in investment holding gains and losses	-		-		-		-		(42,797)		-
Transfer on disposal of investments	-		-		-		39,534		(39,534)		-
Gains on derivatives	-		-		-		8,613		874		-
Realised exchange losses on cash and short-term deposits	-		-		-		(210)		-		-
Exchange losses on foreign currency loans	-		-		-		(145)		(4,986)		-
Special dividend allocated to capital	-		-		-		63		-		-
Issue of new shares	1,652		-		-		-		-		-
Repurchase of shares into treasury	-		-		-		(15,742)		-		-
Management fee and finance costs allocated to capital	-		-		-		(3,330)		-		-
Capital gains tax provision	-		-		-		-		1,129		-
Dividend paid	-		-		-		-		-		(9,275)
Retained revenue for the year	-		-		-		-		-		13,466
At 31 December 2022	114,656		11,646		29,182		167,204		103,634		25,696

¹The share premium is a non distributable reserve and represents the amount by which the fair value of the consideration received from shares issued exceeds the nominal value of shares issued.

²The capital redemption reserve represents the accumulated nominal value of shares repurchased for cancellation. This reserve is not distributable.

³This is a distributable capital reserve arising from the cancellation of the share premium, and may be distributed as dividends or used to repurchase the Company's own shares.

⁴This is a realised (distributable) capital reserve and a positive balance may be used to repurchase the Company's own shares or distributed as dividends.

⁵This reserve may include some holding gains on liquid investments (which may be deemed to be realised) and other amounts which are unrealised. An analysis has not been made between those amounts that are realised (and may be distributed as dividends or used to repurchase the Company's own shares) and those that are unrealised.

⁶A positive balance on the revenue reserve may be distributed as dividends or used to repurchase the Company's own shares.

16. Net asset value per share

	2023	2022
Total equity shareholders' funds (£'000)	448,484	457,474
Shares in issue at the year end	97,234,120	105,263,203
Net asset value per share (pence)	461.24	434.60

17. Reconciliation of total return on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation to net cash inflow from operating activities

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Total return/(loss) on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation	39,593	(69,832)
Less capital (return)/loss on ordinary activities before finance costs and taxation	(27,470)	84,615
Decrease in prepayments and accrued income	146	83
Decrease/(increase) in other debtors	1	(1)
Increase/(decrease) in other creditors	258	(388)
Special dividend allocated to capital	1,639	63
Less stock and accumulation dividends	(93)	(63)
Management fee allocated to capital	(2,288)	(2,427)
Overseas withholding tax deducted at source	(858)	(1,031)
Net cash inflow from operating activities	10,928	11,019

18. Analysis of changes in net debt

		Cash	Exchange
	2022	flow	movements	2023
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Cash and cash equivalents	5,161	(2,201)	(433)	2,527
Bank loan	(46,148)	6,530	2,279	(37,339)
Net debt	(40,987)	4,329	1,846	(34,812)

19. Transactions with the Manager

Under the terms of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Agreement, the Manager is entitled to receive management, secretarial and performance fees. Details of the basis of these calculations are given in the Directors' Report on page 37. If the Company invests in funds managed or advised by the Manager, any fees earned by the Manager are rebated to the Company. The management fee payable in respect of the year ended 31 December 2023 amounted to £3,051,000 (2022: £3,236,000) of which £775,000 (2022: £799,000) was outstanding at the year end.

No performance fee is payable in respect of the year (2022: nil was payable and outstanding at the year end).

The secretarial fee payable for the year amounted to £75,000 (2022: £75,000) of which £19,000 (2022: £19,000) was outstanding at the year end.

No Director of the Company served as a Director of any company within the Schroder Group at any time during the year.

20. Related party transactions

Details of the remuneration payable to Directors are given in the Directors' Remuneration Report on page 46 and details of Directors' shareholdings are given in the Directors' Remuneration Report on page 47. Details of transactions with the Manager are given in note 19 above. There have been no other transactions with related parties during the year (2022: nil).

21. Disclosures regarding financial instruments measured at fair value

The Company's financial instruments within the scope of FRS 102 that are held at fair value include its investment portfolio and derivative financial instruments.

FRS 102 requires financial instruments to be categorised into a hierarchy consisting of the three levels below.

Level 1 - valued using unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets.

Level 2 - valued using observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1.

Level 3 - valued using inputs that are unobservable.

Details of the Company's policy for valuing investments and derivative instruments are given in note 1(b) on page 59.

The following table sets out the fair value measurements using the FRS 102 hierarchy at 31 December:

	2023
	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss
Equity investments	484,012	-	-	484,012
Derivative financial instruments - index put options	178	-	-	178
Total	484,190	-	-	484,190
	2022
	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss
Equity investments	499,305	-	-	499,305
Total	499,305	-	-	499,305

22. Financial instruments' exposure to risk and risk management policies

In pursuing its objective, the Company is exposed to a variety of financial risks including market risk (comprising currency risk, interest rate risk and market price risk), liquidity risk and credit risk. The Directors' policy for managing these risks is set out below.

The process for managing risk is unchanged from the previous year. The Company's financial instruments may comprise:

- investments in equities and equity related securities which are held in accordance with the Company's investment objective;

- short-term debtors, creditors and cash arising directly from its operations;

- a multi-currency overdraft facility with HSBC, the purpose of which is to assist in financing the Company's operations;

- a multi-currency credit facility with Scotiabank, the purpose of which is to assist in financing the Company's operations; and

- index put options, which are used to protect the capital value of the portfolio.

(a) Market risk

Market risk comprises three elements - currency risk, interest rate risk and market price risk. Information to enable an evaluation of the nature and extent of these three elements of market risk is given in parts (i) to (iii) of this note, together with sensitivity analyses where appropriate.

(i) Foreign Currency risk

The majority of the Company's assets, liabilities and income are denominated in currencies other than sterling, which is the Company's functional currency and the presentational currency of the accounts. As a result, movements in exchange rates will affect the sterling value of those items.

Management of foreign currency risk

The Manager monitors the Company's exposure to foreign currencies on a daily basis and reports to the Board. The Board has authorised the use of derivative instruments to hedge currency exposure as part of the investment strategy to protect the capital value of the portfolio, or for efficient portfolio management.

Foreign currency exposure

The fair value of the Company's monetary items that have foreign currency exposure at 31 December are shown below. The Company's investments and index put options (which are not monetary items) have been included separately in the analysis so as to show the overall level of exposure.

	2023
	Hong			South
	Kong	US	Taiwanese	Korean	Indian	Singaporean	Thai	Australian	Vietnamese
	dollars	dollars	dollars	won	rupees	dollars	baht	dollars	dong	Other	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Current assets	11	1,256	302	137	86	1	122	9	41	1	1,966
Current liabilities	-	(38,327)	-	-	-	-	(122)	-	-	-	(38,449)
Non current liabilities	-	-	-	-	(586)	-	-	-	-	-	(586)
Foreign currency exposure on
net monetary items	11	(37,071)	302	137	(500)	1	-	9	41	1	(37,069)
Investments held at fair value
through profit or loss	76,860	23,415	112,071	35,009	46,379	38,300	5,653	80,256	6,589	50,080	474,612
Derivative instruments held at
fair value through profit or loss
- index put options	-	-	178	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	178
Total net foreign currency
exposure	76,871	(13,656)	112,551	35,146	45,879	38,301	5,653	80,265	6,630	50,081	437,721
	2022
	Hong			South
	Kong	US	Taiwanese	Korean	Indian	Singaporean	Thai	Australian	Vietnamese
	dollars	dollars	dollars	won	rupees	dollars	baht	dollars	dong	Other	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Current assets	12	275	291	178	-	1	-	221	1,843	-	2,821
Current liabilities	-	(46,270)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	(46,270)
Foreign currency exposure on net
monetary items	12	(45,995)	291	178	-	1	-	221	1,843	-	(43,449)
Investments held at fair value
through profit or loss	80,881	22,394	102,549	38,146	45,747	47,327	-	78,030	7,183	51,112	473,369
Total net foreign currency
exposure	80,893	(23,601)	102,840	38,324	45,747	47,328	-	78,251	9,026	51,112	429,920

The above year end amounts are broadly representative of the exposure to foreign currency risk during the current and prior year.

Foreign currency sensitivity

The following tables illustrate the sensitivity of net profit for the year and net assets with regard to the Company's monetary financial assets and financial liabilities and exchange rates. The sensitivity analysis is based on the Company's monetary currency financial instruments held at each balance sheet date and assumes a 10% (2022: 10%) appreciation or depreciation in sterling against the currencies to which the Company is exposed, which is considered to be a reasonable illustration based on the volatility of exchange rates during the year.

If sterling had weakened by 10% this would have had the following effect:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Income Statement - return after taxation
Revenue return	1,212	1,500
Capital return	(3,802)	(4,316)
Total return after taxation	(2,590)	(2,816)
Net assets	(2,590)	(2,816)
Conversely if sterling had strengthened by 10% this would have had the following effect:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Income Statement - return after taxation
Revenue return	(1,212)	(1,500)
Capital return	3,802	4,316
Total return after taxation	2,590	2,816
Net assets	2,590	2,816

In the opinion of the Directors, the above sensitivity analyses with respect to monetary financial assets and liabilities is broadly representative of the whole of the current and comparative year. The sensitivity with regard to the Company's investments, and any derivative instruments held, to changes in foreign currency exchange rates is subsumed into market price risk sensitivity below.

(ii) Interest rate risk

Interest rate movements may affect the level of income receivable on cash deposits and the interest payable on variable rate borrowings when rates are re-set.

Management of interest rate risk

Liquidity and borrowings are managed with the aim of increasing returns to shareholders. The Board would not expect gearing to exceed 30% where gearing is defined as borrowings used for investment purposes, less cash, expressed as a percentage of net assets.

Interest rate exposure

The possible effects on cash flows that could arise as a result of changes in interest rates are taken into account when the Company draws on its overdraft facility or its credit facility.

The exposure of financial assets and financial liabilities to floating interest rates, giving cash flow interest rate risk when rates are re-set, is shown below:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Exposure to floating interest rates:
Cash and cash equivalents	2,527	5,161
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year:
Bank loan	(37,339)	(46,148)
Total exposure	(34,812)	(40,987)

Interest receivable on cash balances, or paid on overdrafts, is at a margin below or above the applicable Risk Free Reference Rates, respectively (2022: same).

During the year, the Company's multi-currency credit facility with Scotiabank Europe plc was increased to £75 million and extended to 5 July 2024. Amounts are normally drawn down on the facility for one month periods. Interest is payable at a rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, plus a margin, plus the Credit Adjustment Spread. At 31 December 2023, the Company had drawn down US$47.6million (£37.3 million) at an interest rate of 6.61%, repayable on 5 January 2024. At 31 December 2022, the Company had drawn down US$55.5 million (£46.1 million) at an interest rate of 3.95%.

The above year end amounts are not representative of the exposure to interest rates during the year as the level of cash balances and drawings on the credit facility have fluctuated. The maximum and minimum net debt balances during the year are as follows:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Maximum debit interest rate exposure during the year - net debt	(47,462)	(55,987)
Minimum debit interest rate exposure during the year - net debt	(22,561)	(34,641)

Interest rate sensitivity

The following table illustrates the sensitivity of the return after taxation for the year and net assets to a 1.5% (2022: 1.5%) increase or decrease in interest rates in regards to the Company's monetary financial assets and financial liabilities. This level of change is considered to be a reasonable illustration based on observation of current market conditions. The sensitivity analysis is based on the Company's monetary financial instruments held at the balance sheet date with all other variables held constant.

	2023		2022
	1.5% increase	1.5% decrease	1.5% increase	1.5% decrease
	in rate	in rate	in rate	in rate
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Income statement - return after taxation
Revenue return	(102)	102	(96)	96
Capital return	(420)	420	(519)	519
Total return after taxation	(522)	522	(615)	615
Net assets	(522)	522	(615)	615

Given the increase in UK interest rates, the interest rate sensitivity has been updated to 1.5%. The prior year disclosure has been updated to 1.5% to show a direct comparison in the sensitivity. In the prior year report, the sensitivity was calculated using 1.0%, which was representative of the market at 31 December 2022. As disclosed in the prior year annual report, an increase of 1.0% reduced total return after taxation by £410,000 (a decrease of 1.0% had an equal and opposite effect).

In the opinion of the Directors, this sensitivity analysis may not be representative of the Company's future exposure to interest rate changes due to fluctuations in the level of cash balances and drawings on the credit facility.

(iii) Market price risk

Market price risk includes changes in market prices, other than those arising from interest rate risk, which may affect the value of equity investments.

Management of other price risk

The Board meets on at least four occasions each year to consider the asset allocation of the portfolio and the risk associated with particular countries and industry sectors. The Board has authorised the Manager to enter derivative transactions as a means of seeking capital preservation, subject to limits on the percentage of the portfolio hedged and the duration of derivatives used.

Market risk exposure

The Company's total exposure to changes in market prices at 31 December comprises the following investments:

	2023	2022
	£'000	£'000
Investments held at fair value through profit or loss	484,012	499,305
Derivative financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss:
Index put options	178	-
	484,190	499,305

The above data is broadly representative of the exposure to market price risk during the year.

Concentration of exposure to market price risk

An analysis of the Company's investments is given on pages 21 and 22. This shows that the portfolio mainly comprises investments quoted on Asian stock markets. Accordingly there is a concentration of exposure to that region. However it should be noted that an investment may not be entirely exposed to the economic conditions in its country of classification.

Market price risk sensitivity

The following table illustrates the sensitivity of net return after taxation for the year and net assets to an increase or decrease of 10% (2022: 10%) in the fair values of the Company's investments. This level of change is considered to be a reasonable illustration based on observation of current market conditions. The sensitivity analysis is based on the Company's investments, adjusting for the hedging effect of the index put options and including the resulting effect on the management fee, but with all other variables held constant. The sensitivity analysis also takes account of the "beta coefficient" of the portfolio. This is a measure of the volatility of the portfolio compared with the systemic risk of the entire market. As a result, the percentages in the table below represent a 8.05% (2022: 8.43%) increase in fair value and a 7.87% (2022: 8.43%) decrease in fair value.

	2023		2022
	10% increase	10% decrease	10% increase	10% decrease
	in fair value	in fair value	in fair value	in fair value
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Income statement - return after taxation
Revenue return	(63)	62	(68)	68
Capital return	38,774	(37,906)	41,887	(41,887)
	38,711	(37,844)	41,819	(41,819)
Percentage change in net asset value	8.6	(8.4)	9.1	(9.1)

(b) Liquidity risk

This is the risk that the Company will encounter difficulty in meeting its obligations associated with financial liabilities that are settled by delivering cash or another financial asset.

Management of liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is not significant as the Company's assets comprise mainly readily realisable securities, which can be sold to meet funding requirements if necessary. Short-term flexibility is achieved through the use of overdraft and credit facilities.

Liquidity risk exposure

Contractual maturities of financial liabilities, based on the earliest date on which payment can be required are as follows:

	2023	2022
	Three	Three
	months	months
	or less	or less
	£'000	£'000
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Bank loan - including interest	37,546	46,359
Securities purchased awaiting settlement	122	-
Other creditors and accruals	1,208	954
	38,876	47,313

Credit risk is the risk that the failure of the counterparty to a transaction to discharge its obligations under that transaction could result in loss to the Company.

Management of credit risk

This risk is not significant and is managed as follows:

Portfolio dealing

The Company invests almost entirely in markets that operate a "Delivery Versus Payment" settlement process which mitigates the risk of losing the principal of a trade during settlement. The Manager continuously monitors dealing activity to ensure best execution, which involves measuring various indicators including the quality of trade settlement and incidence of failed trades. Counterparties must be pre-approved by the Manager's Credit Committee.

Exposure to the Custodian

The custodian of the Company's assets is HSBC Bank plc which has Long-Term Credit Ratings of AA- with Fitch and Aa3 with Moody's.

The Company's investments are held in accounts which are segregated from the custodian's own trading assets. If the custodian were to become insolvent, the Company's right of ownership of its investments is clear and they are therefore protected. However the Company's cash balances are all deposited with the custodian as banker and held on the custodian's balance sheet. Accordingly, in accordance with usual banking practice, the Company will rank as a general creditor to the custodian in respect of cash balances.

Credit risk exposure

The amounts shown in the balance sheet under debtors and cash at bank and in hand represent the maximum exposure to credit risk at the current and comparative year ends. No debtors are past their due date and none have been provided for. There has been no stock lending during the year, or prior year.

(d) Fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities

All financial assets and liabilities are either carried in the balance sheet at fair value, or the balance sheet amount is a reasonable approximation of fair value.

23. Capital management policies and procedures

The Company's capital is represented by its net assets and borrowings, which are managed to achieve the Company's investment objective, as set out on page 24.

The Company has overdraft and credit facilities in place which may be used to maximise the return to shareholders through an appropriate level of gearing. The Board would not expect the level of gearing to exceed 30%, where gearing is defined as borrowings used for investment purposes, less cash, expressed as a percentage of net assets.

The Board, with the assistance of the Manager, monitors and reviews the broad structure of the Company's capital on an ongoing basis. This review includes:

- the planned level of gearing, which takes into account the Manager's views on the market;

- the need to buy back the Company's own shares for cancellation or to hold in treasury, which takes into account the share price discount;

- the opportunities for issues of new shares or to reissue shares out of treasury; and

- the amount of dividend to be paid, in excess of that which is required to be distributed.

Status of announcement

2022 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2022 are extracted from the published Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for that year. The 2022 Annual Report and Accounts have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the Report of the Independent Auditors which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2023 Financial Information

The figures and financial information for 2023 are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 and do not constitute the statutory accounts for the year. The 2023 Annual Report and Accounts include the Report of the Independent Auditors which is unqualified and does not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. The 2023 Annual Report and Accounts will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course.

Neither the contents of the Company's web pages nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's web pages (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

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Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company (ATR)

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