19 May 23:
We are very grateful to those investors who returned the forms affirming their accredited or institutional status according to Singapore definitions. For anyone who was unable to do so, we no longer need to trouble you for this. Not all of our co-investors were able to return the forms by the deadline, and we have been sorry to hear of some cases of ill health. Seraya has decided not to proceed with the proposed agreement. Apollo Asia Fund will continue to be managed by AIMS Asset Management, with Claire Barnes as the fund manager, as since inception. If any investor has questions, do please ask.

Meanwhile, back to the search for good investments, and a resilient portfolio: I will be writing more on this in the future, and welcome input from all our readers. Environmental change is now hitting Asia hard; it is no longer a distant possibility beyond the investment horizon. Some political and demographic risks are also much higher than during the peaceful post-war decades. The time seems right to reassess all businesses and enterprises, and to consider which may be able to adapt and flourish in the decades ahead. We hope to be among them, and to pay even more attention to resilience in our investing.

2 May 23:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 0.5% in April to US$ 2,623.23; charts.

28 Apr 23:
Many people share the shock and outrage expressed by Sahabat Alam Malaysia at the conditional approval of the environmental impact assessment for a controversial construction project to destroy 4,500 acres of the seabed and build the 'Penang South Islands'. Aliran explains 'Why the three-island mega-project in Penang must be scrapped'. An earlier article, 'Green or greenwash?' continued: 'food security vs another dodgy megaproject?' Important questions. This seabed destruction would be catastrophic for remaining fish supplies, and exacerbate climate change. It is being announced amid an unprecedented heat wave. This is not 'development'; it impoverishes us all. We hope that federal and state governments will rethink this.

27 Apr 23:
For the self-certification of accredited or institutional investor status, electronic or digital signatures are fine. (This relates to the file "AAF investor confirmations.pdf", which all Apollo Asia Fund investors should have received at your registered email addresses.)

Andrew has been in Vietnam this week, and attended an AGM on behalf of both of our funds. Teamwork is invaluable, and we are keen to have the co-management agreement in place so that the collaboration between members of our long-standing investment team, now based in both Singapore and Malaysia, will again be seamless. Many thanks to our investors who have already returned their forms; it would be a great help if others do that soon - and please sign in whichever way is most convenient!

22 Apr 23:
I wrote to all of my fellow-investors in Apollo Asia Fund this week to explain why the new co-management agreement is so desirable (see below). At the same time, the administrator sent a form for investors to confirm their status as an accredited or institutional investor according to the Singapore definitions. Sorry about the additional paperwork! The good news is that this form should take little time to complete. We do not expect any of our investors to have difficulty meeting the criteria, but we do need to ask all ongoing investors to self-certify their status, as this will be required by Singapore regulations. My explanatory letter is here, and if any investor has not received the form (sent to registered email addresses) then please get in touch. Thank you! and Selamat Hari Raya from Malaysia.

16 Apr 23:
The 1Q report briefly discusses psychological anomalies hampering accurate appraisal of risk. It also explains why we propose a co-management agreement with Seraya Investment in Singapore, to maintain and extend the long-standing collaboration with our colleagues who have moved to the new firm. This is good for resilience; do please ask if you have any questions.

3 Apr 23:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 1.6% in March to US$ 2,611.38; charts.

1 Mar 23:
The NAV of the Series A shares fell 4.3% in February to US$ 2,569.82; charts.

6 Feb 23:
Malaysia's new prime minister urges Goldman Sachs to honour 1MDB financial settlement since it apparently has not paid even the reduced amount bizarrely agreed in 2020; commentators on Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report suggest reopening the case. (Original Malaysiakini article, paywalled.) With a legitimate government restored, the defrauded Malaysian taxpayers would like to see money clawed back.

1 Feb 23:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 3.6% in January to US$ 2,684.48; charts.

28 Jan 23:
I linked recently to comments on the Hemingway Decline, embedded in the 2Q19 report. The topic now has a freestanding page, updated and more suitable for current discussion; I have changed the recent links to point to the new version. Please circulate it freely if it seems useful; feedback would be very welcome.

21 Jan 23:
A shocking animation of the spread of polluting plastic waste from Asia to the once-pristine beaches of the Seychelles, Mauritius and East Africa has been highlighted by Oxford University in this twitter thread and short article; these link to the thread and original paper by lead author Noam Vogt-Vincent. Don't miss the animation: four years in one minute... and now we're four more years on. Steady growth in polluted areas will be resulting in accelerating rates of decline in the not-yet-visibly affected: it's the arithmetic of the Hemingway Decline. If you book a beach holiday while attractions remain, please choose carefully!

16 Jan 23:
The 4Q report is 'Taking stock at the end of a Tiger Year'.

5 Jan 23:
29 days after the AGM, Scientex Packaging (SCIPACK) sent a written response to some of our questions which it declined to tackle on the day. We were disappointed that the new and non-independent chairman was unwilling to address shareholders on the future strategy or any substantive matter (he spoke only formulaic sentences relating to conduct of the meeting), and that following this huge change in board composition the managing director and all new directors were unwilling to speak at all. Apparently no-one was willing to sign today's response, sent from a no-reply email, so it seems that "IR" is now anonymous as well as one-way. Responsibility for this attitude to minority investors therefore rests with the chairman and each member of the SCIPACK board, as well as with the board and management of the controlling shareholder Scientex Berhad: corporate governance standards for large listed companies also apply to their listed subsidiaries. AGM conduct guidance requires all questions to be made known to all participants, but that was not done on the day, and neither a comprehensive list of questions nor this delayed response have yet been provided on the website. We therefore share here today's response to AAF, and invite fellow shareholders to contact us with any other questions asked, responses received, and their thoughts on this unusual situation and the apparent attempt to rebuff constructive investor engagement and suppress normal interest in what should be a strong recovery situation and growth opportunity.

3 Jan 23:
The NAV of the Series A shares rose 3.9% in December to US$ 2,591.18; charts.

Claire Barnes

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