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The FTSE 250 is home to dozens of investment trusts that offer global growth opportunities. This makes it possible to build a globally diverse ISA portfolio without delving into the complexities of overseas listings.
One that’s done really well for me recently (following three tricky years) is Pacific Horizon Investment Trust (LSE:PHI). It’s invested in growth companies across the Asia Pacific region, and last year it returned nearly 37%.
In 2026, I’d like to diversify my portfolio and get more exposure to Asia. Here’s why.
High-growth region
There are a few key reasons. Firstly, there’s China, which is just too important to be ignored. We’ve already seen Chinese firms rise rapidly in e-commerce (Temu), social media (TikTok), electric vehicles (BYD), and toys (Labubu dolls).
Today, four of the 10-most downloaded apps in the US are Chinese (Temu, TikTok, CapCut, and Chinese-founded Shein). I fully expect other massive global businesses to emerge from China in areas such as semiconductors, sportswear, robotics and pharmaceuticals.
China currently makes up nearly 20% of global GDP but just 3%-or-so of global stock market indices. Even a modest reallocation away from an increasingly unpredictable US over the next decade would likely boost Chinese stocks and therefore Asia-focused funds.
Meanwhile, resilient economies like Vietnam are still growing strongly despite Trump’s tariffs. Indeed, in 2026, Goldman Sachs expects the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index to generate 19% growth in earnings per share versus 12% for the S&P 500.
“Investors should look for opportunities for broad geographic exposure, including an increased focus on emerging markets”, the bank said.
Growth trust
But personally, I’m not keen on buying individual Chinese stocks. Instead, I prefer Asia-focused investment trusts that offer me diversified exposure, such as the Pacific Horizon Investment Trust.
As mentioned, it’s focused on growth. Its top holdings are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics, the two foundries making most of the advanced AI chips today. Elsewhere, we have TikTok owner ByteDance and copper and lithium giant Zijin Mining Group.
Currently, Pacific Horizon’s trading at an 8.4% discount to its underlying net asset value (NAV). So I’m tempted to buy more shares for my portfolio.
Adding in dividends
However, I’d like to increase my Asia exposure even further, which is why Schroder Oriental Income Fund‘s (LSE:SOI) also caught my eye.
As its name suggests, this one also focuses on dividend-paying firms from the region. As such, we see more mature businesses in the portfolio including Singapore Telecommunications, BOC Hong Kong Holdings, Telstra Group, and NetEase.
Schroder Oriental Income has grown its dividend every year since launch in 2005, and the starting yield today is a respectable 3.4%.
That said, I see concentration risk here with these two trusts. They both have TSMC as their top position with a massive 13% weighting. If the chipmaker’s shares sell off aggressively, then performance could suffer for both.
I also hold TSMC shares, so this increases the risk for my own portfolio. And another sudden round of punitive tariffs on Asia from President Trump also can’t be ruled out.
Schroder Oriental Income, which is trading at a 3.7% discount to NAV, reports its half-year results in February. If I still like what I read then, I plan to open a position in the trust.
