Asia today – AI winners and better mousetraps

Following up on his recent Platinum Roadshow presentation, Cameron Robertson reviews Asian market moves in 2025 and explores the forces that could shape 2026. 

In Asia this year the headlines have been a good guide to what’s moving the market and in any headline count for 2025, AI would rank very high. That’s been good news for Asia. The countries most exposed to surging demand for chips, networking and all the sector’s associated equipment and power needs have posted good returns. Taiwan’s TAIEX Index is up 27% year-to-date and the China and Korea indices are up 33% and 74%, respectively.¹

The AI boom has boosted some of the Platinum Asia Fund’s key holdings – Taiwanese chip giant TSMC is up over 45% over the past year, and Korean chip manufacturer SK Hynix up 200%. Korea’s mega-conglomerate Samsung has bounced back from a difficult few years with a 80% return over the past year as Tesla and other companies expressed more confidence in their chip offering.²

Two Chinese stocks that reach out to consumers – online marketplace Alibaba and short-video platform Kuaishou – have also ridden the AI wave.

Alibaba’s cloud business is growing rapidly. They have a fast-growing large language model (LLM) and their own chip development is aiming to take on Nvidia within the Chinese market. Meanwhile Kuaishou’s share price has moved up thanks to the success of their “Kling” AI text-to-video model and their use of AI to drive recommendations and sales in their e-commerce business. 

Defying the headlines – tariffs, trade and President Trump

The headlines that made Asia-watchers most anxious this year were all about President Trump’s sweeping tariff changes. Perhaps surprisingly some Asian sectors, like Korean industrials, are benefiting from US trade policies, catching a tailwind from the friend-shoring/re-shoring of US manufacturing. Korean shipping stock HD Hyundai Marine is one example, going on an extraordinary share price run since June this year. 

In more good news, October saw President Trump further soften his approach to Asian economies, promising to cut Liberation Day tariff rates in Malaysia, Japan and Korea and pulling back from extreme tariffs on China. 

As always in the multi-faceted Asian markets, some companies prosper due to idiosyncratic rather than macro forces. Our Indonesian retail holding, Astra International has done well because a strategic review could unlock value for shareholders.  

After a recent visit to Korea we bought into LG Display, a TV and mobile screen maker that is now more disciplined around capacity expansion and capital expenditure.  

New year, new themes? 

In 2026, there are a range of market-driving themes that could fade, alter shape or grow in impact. 

• AI is clearly a transformative technology but there are some pockets in the sector where prices have pushed well above fair value. Sorting froth from substance will be key. 
• A weaker US dollar could be a further boost for Asia. 
• Demand for batteries that power EVs and city power grids should continue to support companies like our Chinese battery holding, CATL. 

As always, we expect to find companies that benefit not only from thematic tailwinds but simply because they’ve ‘built a better mousetrap’ - improved their processes, cut their costs and delivered ideas and products that delight their customers. 

• Like to know more? Visit our Platinum Asia Fund page 
• Want to invest with Platinum?

1. MSCI AP total return and Taiwan TAIEX Total Return indices - both one year to end October 2025. Source: Factset
2. All stock returns to end October 2025, Source: Factset