Monday

My week usually kicks off with our Asia team call, with colleagues across our team dialling in from London, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei. It’s a great way to start the day, hearing what’s happening on the ground in some of our portfolio markets before the UK markets fully wake up. This call is a great opportunity to find out what they’re seeing and hearing firsthand from companies and policymakers.

Then I log into Spectrum, our investment platform, to see what’s been driving the portfolio and to read the latest analyst notes. We’ve recently integrated our own proprietary AI tool directly into the system, which has really enhanced how we work on a day-to-day basis. You can ask it about dividend trends or cashflow patterns and it’ll surface insights from decades of research notes in seconds. It means we hit Monday running, focused on the things that matter most for JEMI: profitability, cash generation and dividends.

Then, lunch. Nearly always a giant salad eaten at speed between a busy day of meetings – not the most glamorous, but it does the job.

In the afternoon, the team and I run through any companies or industries that made headlines over the weekend. Today it’s Baijiu pricing* and the latest twists in Asian tech.

Then it’s home for family time, which is always welcome after a fast start to the week.

Tuesday

Tuesdays often mean rolling up my sleeves with our analysts and getting deep into the numbers. Korean financials are an area of interest right now – governance reforms and the Value-Up programme are prompting banks to return more capital and lift dividends. Given income is fundamental to our portfolio, staying close to the detail really matters.

A big part of the job is meeting companies, whether they’re in London, I’m travelling, or we’re catching up online across time zones. Together across our Emerging Markets and Asia team we meet with over 3,000 companies every year and always share our insights with colleagues. These conversations tend to focus on the same core areas: long-term strategy, operating conditions, capital allocation and, of course, dividends. Every company in JEMI must pay one, so understanding management’s mindset on shareholder returns is non-negotiable.

Today’s highlight was a meeting with Tencent*, one of China’s standout companies. We talked about where they see the biggest opportunities – especially around AI – and how that connects to their long-term strategy. We also dug into their approach to capital allocation and dividends, an area where they’ve made real progress.

I round off the day by comparing notes with other emerging markets portfolio managers. It’s a good way to challenge our thinking and get out of our own bubble.

Wednesday

Wednesdays always start with a strong coffee and our weekly income call. It brings together income-focused investors from London and Hong Kong to discuss dividend ideas and sector shifts – a helpful counterbalance to the deep-dive stock work which makes up most of my day.

Around midday, I tend to check attribution to see what’s been driving recent performance. It’s an important habit: making sure positions are behaving as expected and spotting places where we may need to dig deeper. During earnings season, these updates can make or break an investment thesis.

Then it’s our macro catch-up, where we lift our heads from stock specifics and think about the bigger picture: market concentration, valuation gaps, the tech cycle. JEMI is very bottom-up, but the backdrop still matters.

If I can, I squeeze in a gym session before heading home.

Thursday

Thursdays are my most portfolio-focused day. Our portfolio review meeting pulls together valuation signals, earnings news and analyst insights to help us spot new ideas and reassess older ones. We look at yield, dividend growth prospects and expected returns, using this to prioritise where deeper research is needed.

Equally important is reviewing what we already own. Are companies delivering the earnings and cashflows we expected? Are dividends holding up? If a company materially disappoints on dividends, which luckily doesn’t happen often in our universe, it’s a clear prompt to rethink our position. After the review I send trade instructions to our dealers to implement any portfolio changes.

Later, I catch up with one of our analysts in Shanghai before getting stuck into the portfolio’s revenue estimates for an upcoming Board meeting. While the Board sets the final dividend for the trust, we provide the detailed view of dividend delivery across the portfolio that informs those decisions.

Friday

Fridays are always varied, but I’m in early this morning to answer emails before hosting a webinar for our shareholders. We introduced them fairly recently to give all investors, whether retail or wholesale, the chance to hear directly from the team. They offer an open forum to talk through the portfolio, what we have been thinking about, how performance has evolved and the themes we are excited about. Plus it’s a great opportunity to answer shareholders questions too.

I then rush over to my daughter’s dance recital at school to end the day – always a highlight.

Saturday

Saturday is family time. My wife and I have recently become fans of the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, so it’s good to take in a performance when we can.

Sunday

Sundays are for cycling. This weekend, I headed out to Windsor with a group of friends – a nice contrast to the intensity of London!

*The companies above are mentioned for illustrative purposes only. Their inclusion should not be interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell.