Robotics is one of the world’s great emerging technologies, and Japan’s Yaskawa Electric (OTC: YASKY) is the world leader in industrial robotics. Asia dominates the budding industry by far, producing 62% of global industrial robots. This Pacific Wealth holding is central to one of the 21st century’s key emerging technologies… Read More

Profits from real estate and cheap money flow straight to Allied’s bottom line. Read More

Singapore’s largest bank shines in one of the world’s best-run economies. Read More

Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund (NYSE: FAX)—our Portfolio’s sole closed-end fund—is tightly tied to the Australian dollar and Asia-Pacific growth.It’s been a tough road on both of those counts, but at its current level, the fund offers both good value and an impressive yield.Opening the DoorAsian fixed-income markets have evolved in… Read More

By expanding into utilities, telecom M2 broadens both its offerings and customer base. Read More

Aggressive Portfolio holding Spark Infrastructure Group raised eyebrows last month when it held off on issuing 2015 financial guidance. But management made the move for a practical reason: It’s waiting to hear more on upcoming “regulatory resets” that will determine how much the electricity distributor can collect from… Read More

When we put together the AE Portfolio in September 2011, we focused on top-quality dividend-paying stocks you could use to build long-term wealth.We started with eight companies, including both of this month’s Sector Spotlight subjects, Aggressive Holding GrainCorp Ltd. and Conservative Holding AGL Energy Ltd. (ASX: AGL, OTC: AGLNF, ADR:… Read More

GrainCorp Ltd. (ASX: GNC, OTC: GRCLF), Australia’s largest publicly traded agriculture firm, was a steady grower in the year after it debuted as a founding member of the AE Aggressive Portfolio in 2011.From September 26 of that year until late 2012, the stock posted slow but steady gains, capped by… Read More

Confession: I’m one of those guys who avoids regular doctor visits.I realize that at my age—I turned 44 this month—this is a foolish choice, even though I swim three times a week and run on the days I don’t get to the pool. There’s just no beating the care you… Read More

It seems logical that a transport company like Toll Holdings Ltd. would see a big boost to its bottom line from the oil-price plunge. Investors appear to think so. In the last six months, Toll shares have risen around 12% on the Australian Securities Exchange, compared with a 3% decline… Read More