A convergence of global and domestic influences makes 2012 an opportune time to invest for dividends in Asia.
Schroder Investment Management Ltd said its research showed that Asia, besides boasting the strongest economic fundamentals in the world currently, also had one of the highest dividend yields globally. It was second only to Europe, where the unfolding debt crisis continues to raise questions about dividend sustainability.
“Despite the market's obsession with share price appreciation, historically almost two-thirds of long-term equity returns in Asia have come from dividends,” Lee King Fuei, a Singapore-based fund manager for Asian equities at Schroder, argued in his latest report on the outlook for Asian equities for 2012.
