It was a rainy morning when I first met up with Mr Lee Kian Soon, the CEO of Astral Asset Management. He started the Astral Value Fund with Mr Sean Mah, who is the Chief Investment Officer in the Company. Over a cup of coffee, he shared his insights about stock investments. As value investors, we struck a chord as soon as we began our conversation. An intellect and an experienced stock picker, I was fortunate to be able to pick his brain and piece together this interview, and present it exclusively for your learning and reading pleasure.

What was the motivation in starting the Fund?

If the last century was known as the U.S. century, we are optimistic that this century will be the Asian century. We see many exciting investing opportunities in Asia, and we believe many investors know about the Asian growth story and are keen to invest but either ......