Asian real estate opportunities present but with local support

Get your money overseas and, more specifically, into Asian real estate, recommends Barings' Chris Lees. Lees, manager of the Baring Global Select fund, began investing in real estate in emerging markets seven years ago but believes that the best is yet to come. His main focus is on Asia and he is quickly buying up shares in leading real estate developers in the area. "Asian real estate is cheap at the moment and quoted in currencies that are going up about 5% a year," says Lees. "The growth outlook is far more attractive than the West - the desire for second homes and holiday homes hasn...