He is probably best-known for the five FE crown-rated Aberdeen Asia Pacific and Aberdeen Global Asian Smaller Companies funds, which he manages as head of the Asian equities team at Aberdeen.
The latter fund is the best-performing portfolio in the IMA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector over both three- and five-year periods, having made 141.79 per cent over the longer of the two periods while its benchmark is up just 41.67 per cent.
Performance of fund vs index over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Aberdeen Asia Pacific is top decile in the same sector over 10 years, with returns of 418.82 per cent, while it is also top quartile over three and five years.
The portfolio has £2.4bn in assets under management (AUM) while the smaller companies portfolio has £2.04bn.
However, Young and his team run a number of other funds, both open- and closed-ended, with more specialised mandates.
Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan
Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan gets less attention than the funds that bypass Japan and currently has only £246.3m in AUM, according to data from FE Analytics.
Investing in Japan has been unfashionable for many years, which may explain why this fund has been overlooked.
However, a change of government in the country and looser monetary policy have seen the TSE Topix index rise by 10.16 per cent in the past two months, according to data from FE Analytics.
Performance of indices over 2 months
Source: FE Analytics
Investors who are seriously looking at the country again may prefer to get access through a broader fund such as this Aberdeen portfolio, which has the wider exposure to dilute the effect on performance if sentiment should worsen again.
The fund has made minimal changes to its weighting to Japan in recent months, shifting gradually from holding just under 20 per cent in the country in May to just shy of 22 per cent in December.
Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan has performed largely in line with Aberdeen Asian Pacific over both three and five years, although its returns of 307.14 per cent over a decade are lower than the fund that avoids Japan.
It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 1.8 per cent and a minimum initial investment of £500.
Aberdeen New Dawn IT
Many investors are wary of investing in closed-ended structures due to the potential volatility of the trusts.
However, the performance of Aberdeen New Dawn underlines the potential for higher capital growth that is the upshot of this volatility.
The £234.1m trust has the same geographical focus as Aberdeen Asia Pacific, but has outperformed the open-ended fund over three-, five- and 10-year periods.
Performance of trust and fund vs benchmark over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Over the past decade it has made 525.54 per cent, but despite these massive gains it is sitting on a discount of 8.4 per cent.
The trust has a total of 40 per cent in Hong Kong and Singapore stocks and 12 per cent in India, almost exactly the split on Aberdeen Asia Pacific.
Charges are typically lower on a closed-ended portfolio and investors only need to pay a TER of 1.05 per cent.
Aberdeen New India IT
A more specialist closed-ended portfolio that Young’s team runs is Aberdeen New India, a £139.4m trust with a recent track record of strong outperformance of its market.
Over five years the MSCI India index has grown just 13.66 per cent, but the Aberdeen New India trust has made 55.52 per cent.
However, over three years the trust’s performance is in line with the index: they have made 24.21 per cent and 23.16 per cent respectively.
The management team warns investors that its long-term approach means it is likely to diverge from its benchmark at times.
It has a large overweight position in IT companies, holding 20.6 per cent in the sector rather than the 14.1 per cent of the benchmark.
It has a significant underweight position in financials and no holdings in the energy sector, which makes up 12.1 per cent of the index.
The trust is sitting on a discount of 9.8 per cent to NAV, according to figures from the AIC, while the total expense ratio is 1.53 per cent.
SJP Far East
Young runs a couple of funds for providers other than Aberdeen, including this £379m fund for St James's Place.
The fund is second only to Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan in the sector over three, five and 10 years.
It contains names familiar to UK investors in its top-10: Rio Tinto is the largest position in the fund – Young has 3.8 per cent of his assets in the stock – while fellow miner BHP Billiton contains 3.1 per cent of the fund’s money.
Young has 3.2 per cent of the portfolio in each of Standard Chartered and HSBC, an interesting vote of confidence in the latter stock in particular.
On the other hand, Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan is boosted by holdings in Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies and the offshore Aberdeen Global Indian Equity fund.
Investors will need £1,500 as a minimum initial investment, although the TER is slightly lower than the Aberdeen fund, at 1.63 per cent.
Scottish Widows HIFML Far Eastern Focus
This tiny £23.7m fund was only launched in January 2009, but has won five FE crowns for its performance since then.
It is the 10th-best performer in the sector over that time, having made 125.53 per cent, while the average fund is up just 103.27 per cent.
Young is overweight Rio Tinto, HSBC and Standard Chartered, as he is on his other portfolios, while the fund’s largest holding is 9 per cent in Aberdeen Global Indian Equity, reflecting his positive view of that country.
Most of the funds in the sector that have made more than this fund since it was launched are either income funds or have soft-closed, meaning that it provides a large cap option in the region that may have passed many investors by.
However, it requires a minimum initial investment of £5,000, which is unusually high for a retail fund. It has a TER of 1.75 per cent, according to data from FE Analytics.