First State adds income share class to Tulloch funds

First State has introduced a new income share class to its £3.03bn Asia Pacific Leaders and £767m Asia Pacific funds.

First State says it added the new class in response to client demand, following the recent decline in UK interest rates. Investors will receive income on a semi-annual basis.

The First State Asia Pacific Leaders fund, launched in late 2003, is managed by Angus Tulloch and Alistair Thompson. Since inception, the fund has returned 166.2%, against a 122.8% and 125.3% rise for the peer group and benchmark respectively, according to Lipper.

Launched over two decades ago, the First State Asia Pacific fund, managed by Tulloch and Martin Lau, has produced a 15.1% annualised return over the last 10 years. The fund has been soft-closed to additional investors since 2003.

"The launch of formal income share classes in these funds will provide existing investors with added flexibility to suit their individual circumstances," First State regional managing director EMEA Gary Withers says.