Platinum is fully invested: these are the stocks and sectors they like

This interview was filmed on Tuesday, 11 March 2025.

Fund profile

• Name of the fund and ASX ticker: Platinum Asia Fund (Quoted Managed Hedge Fund) (ASX: PAXX)
• Asset Class: Global equities
• Investment objective: To provide capital growth over the long term by providing exposure to undervalued listed investments in the Asian region (excluding Japan).
• Fund Page: (VIEW LINK)

At a time of extreme volatility, Platinum Asset Management’s Cameron Robertson has a fully invested portfolio. He notes that this isn’t standard, but the opportunity has been too good to miss across the Asia ex-Japan region.

“All across the region, valuations are really cheap. The economies are still growing,” Robertson, portfolio manager for the Platinum Asia Fund (Quoted Managed Hedge Fund) (ASX: PAXX) says.

While there has been some turbulence, such as property market headwinds in China, Robertson still sees plenty of growth opportunities, from the rising middle class to large-scale tech ecosystems.

In this interview, he shares the key tech themes to watch across Asia, explores valuations and which sectors he is eyeing for the future. He also highlights his highest conviction position, a recent addition to the portfolio and a divestment.

Asia has become a significant tech player

When investors think of Asian tech, Taiwan Semiconductors (NYSE: TSM) is often front of mind – it’s actually Robertson’s largest holding.

Robertson points out that it's difficult to compare it to other businesses, though on a valuation basis, it still looks appealing.

“On a pure PE multiples basis, it’s about half of where Nvidia trades, but realistically Taiwan Semi-conductor is a global monopoly. 

They are peerless at the cutting edge of making the latest and greatest logic chips,” he says, believing that the continued tech drive for power efficiency and functionality will play to TSMC's advantage.

“Earnings can be a little bit volatile but at the same time, taking a longer-term view, you can see this really isn’t an expensive price to pay for an incredible world-class asset,” Robertson says.

While there has been some discussion of chips developed in China, at this stage, Robertson believes it would be hard for a competitor to close the gap with Taiwan Semiconductor. He quips, “The leading player in China is actually SMIC and, interestingly, they caught up by poaching a former R&D engineer from Samsung, who had previously poached him from TSMC.”

There’s more to watch across the region, and Robertson sees plenty to like. He highlights that the recent attention on Deepseek was a reminder of the talent in the ecosystem. AI is the dominant theme, but Robertson is closely watching the applications from a hardware and software perspective.

“You’ve got various applications from content creation, through to medical advances in Korea. There is a company actually used in New South Wales breast cancer screening", he adds. 

He also finds the robotics space interesting and references a Korean company called Rainbow Robotics (KOSDAQ: 277810), which he views as the equivalent of Boston Dynamics.

Technology and consumer discretionary sectors continue to outperform

Technology and consumer discretionary sectors comprise more than 40% of Robertson’s portfolio - he believes each has more to run.

“As technologies evolve, there are new opportunities for new companies to come in with different technologies and new solutions. So, we have been finding opportunities there. The sector has seen significant growth and has very strong tailwinds for many years to come, even if it is potentially a bumpy ride,” he says.

An example of a recent addition in the tech space to his portfolio was Kuaishou (HKG: 1024), a social media and e-commerce platform with over 700 million users in China.

“Revenues and profits are both growing double-digit and yet you’re only having to pay about 12x earnings,” Robertson says. 

The business also offers a video AI platform, which generated additional interest from Deepseek and was mentioned in a recent Chinese government meeting.

From the consumer discretionary sector perspective, Robertson notes, “one of the real premises for why you might be drawn to investing in Asia… is the rising middle-class.”

He’s invested in companies like trip.com (NYSE: TCOM) and believes “the market is not paying up for them. There are opportunities for investors to make money.”

A sector to watch given the geopolitical environment

While the above sectors remain a key focus for opportunities, Robertson thinks it is worth watching industrials and manufacturing.

“There’s a focus on friend-shoring or near-shoring, even reshoring back to the US. Oftentimes that will actually rely on partners who have those capabilities and skills,” Robertson says.

“If you think about some of the industrial companies in Korea, perhaps they might be fairly uniquely positioned to help put manufacturing back onshore in the US.”

In saying that, Robertson prefers to keep his portfolio “domestic-facing”, meaning business is largely generated within the country of origin, to minimise disruption to the companies he invests in from geopolitical risks, such as US tariffs.

More insights?

In the Listed Series interview above, Robertson provides more detail on technological innovation across Asia, geopolitical risks and why Platinum is fully invested right now. Watch for more.

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