The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has actually had a pretty decent start to this twelfth month of the year thus far. Over December, the ASX 200 has gained around 0.73%. Not too shabby, one could say. But in saying that, it certainly leaves a lot to be desired from the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA).
ASIA units have not had anywhere near the December that the ASX 200 has enjoyed. Over the month thus far, the ASIA ETF has gone backwards by a nasty 6.44%, falling from $9.79 per unit to the current price today of $9.16.
But, unfortunately for investors, that's not where ASIA's pain ends. In addition to losing close to 7% over December so far, ASIA is also down around 11.3% over the past month. 2021 year to date has seen this ETF lose 21.3%, and more than 35% from the all-time high of $14.36 that we saw back in February.
But let's circle back to December. Why have ASIA units not gotten into some Christmas cheer as the ASX 200 has?
Well, to answer that, let's check out what kind of investments ASIA actually invests in. Although it is listed on the ASX, ASIA has virtually zero exposure to the Australian share market or the ASX 200. Instead, according to its provider, ASIA invests in a portfolio "comprising [of] the 50 largest technology and online retail stocks in Asia (ex-Japan)".
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December proves to be a trying time for ASIA
As of 20 December, the top 5 of these (and their weighting in the ETF) were as follows:
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, with a portfolio weighting of 11.7%
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, with a weighting of 11.4%
- Tencent Holdings Ltd, with a weighting of 9.9%
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, with a weighting of 8.5%
- Meituan, with a weighting of 6%
So as you can tell, ASIA is a relatively concentrated ETF, with these top 5 holdings making up almost half (47.5%) of the entire ETF's weighting. As such, we can say that these 5 companies pretty much determine what happens to the value of this ETF.
Well, Samsung shares have had a pretty decent December thus far, rising a touch over 8% since the start of the month so far.
But Taiwan Semiconductor hasn't had such a good time. It's down 1.9% over the same period.
Likewise, Tencent has lost 6.4% since the start of the month, while Alibaba is down 9.83%. Rounding out the top 5, Meituan has given up 7.9% over the month so far.
So on the whole, ASIA's top holdings haven't had a great time of it over December thus far, even accounting for the outperformance of its top holding in Samsung. And this is the likely reason why ASIA units have been struggling over December. A sluggish Aussie dollar probably hasn't helped either.
But it's not all bad news. ASIA units are still up close to 50% since this ETF's ASX debut back in 2018.
The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF charges a management fee of 0.67% per annum.
