Ashburton celebrates one-year anniversary of the Ashburton Chindia Equity Fund

ASHBURTON CELEBRATES ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASHBURTON CHINDIA EQUITY FUND

· Since launch, the Fund has returned 53%* (as at 11/12/2007)

· Fund managed by Jonathan Schiessl and Craig Farley

Ashburton, the active investment manager, is celebrating the first anniversary of the Ashburton Chindia Equity Fund, the first retail fund to focus on solely Chinese and Indian markets.

Since the Fund was launched on 1 December 2006, it has achieved 47.7% return over one year due its strong equity methodology**, against a sector average of 30.49% and has returned 53% to date*.

Jonathan Schiessl and Craig Farley, the investment managers of this successful fund also manage the Standard and Poor’s A rated Ashburton Asia Pacific Equity Fund.

CHINDIA EQUITY OUTLOOK AND INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Jonathan Schiessl said: “Obviously 2007 has been a fantastic year for investors in emerging markets in general, but China and India in particular. So how will 2008 treat investors? There are the much publicised problems in the US sub-prime markets and related credit issues which will continue to dog the markets for some time. But so far China and India have managed to outperform the more developed markets of the US and Europe. The key question is will this continue? We remain cautiously optimistic that both China and India can continue to perform well, but with undoubted wobbles on the way. India remains the most domestically orientated economy in Asia and as such is relatively immune to a US led slowdown. Valuations are getting on the high side but that said we continue to find plenty of value in certain sectors of the market. We have been increasing our Indian weightings within the Fund to reflect this.

And China? Chinese equities had a stellar 2007, but have been correcting over the last couple of months. Markets had got overbought and are now beginning to offer value again. The economy looks fine to us, but the key for 2008 remains inflation and therefore currency policy. We believe the currency will be allowed to appreciate at a slightly faster rate, which will help reduce inflationary pressures. The economy as a whole should slow slightly from very elevated levels, but we do not expect aggressive tightening ahead of the Beijing Olympics and worries over a US slowdown.

So all-in-all we think 2008 should be a positive one!”

ASHBURTON CHINDIA EQUITY FUND FACTS

• The Fund launched on 1 December 2006 and is managed by Jonathan Schiessl and Craig Farley.
• The Fund, which is aggressively managed on an unconstrained relative return basis, has achieved a growth of 47.7% since launch, with approximately £41m under management.
• The Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth through equity or equity related investments predominantly in the stock markets of China and India.
• The Fund is truly actively managed and is not constrained by a benchmark. It focuses on the quality and attractiveness of individual companies rather than the outlook for particular markets. No market-cap bias is employed and stock liquidity is an overriding factor in selection.

· The Fund also invests in companies traded in other markets where a significant proportion of growth in their underlying business is set to derive from China or India.