Diversified exposure to emerging markets, seeking to capture value and growth
The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in equity securities of companies located in emerging (less developed) markets and other investments that are tied economically to emerging markets. Generally these investments include common stock, preferred and preference stock, American Depositary Receipts, European Depositary Receipts, Global Depositary Receipts, and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in emerging markets securities.
Causeway uses a quantitative investment approach to purchase and sell investments for the Fund. Causeway’s proprietary computer model analyzes a variety of factors to assist in selecting securities. The model currently analyzes factors relating to valuation, earnings growth, technical indicators, macroeconomics, currency, countries and sectors.
- YTD Return*
- +6.60%
- Nav*
- $9.53, +0.01
- Inception
- March 30, 2007
- Cusip
- 149498206
- Benchmark
- MSCI Emerging Markets
- Minimum Investment
- $5,000
- Sales Charge
- None
- Net Expense Ratio
- 1.36%
- Gross Expense Ratio
- 1.39%
Portfolio managers
Joe Gubler, CFA
Mr. Gubler is a quantitative portfolio manager at Causeway. He joined the firm in 2005 and has been a portfolio manager since January 2014. In addition to managing quantitative portfolios and conducting alpha research, Mr. Gubler also leads the efforts to maintain and enhance Causeway’s proprietary risk models. He is also a member of the operating committee.
From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Gubler worked as a software engineer, with employers ranging from startups to established businesses such as Monster.com. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Gubler worked as a staff scientist for News Corporation, conducting studies on the RF propagation of broadcast signals. While studying astrophysics at UC San Diego, Mr. Gubler worked as a graduate research assistant in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's stellar interferometry group.
Mr. Gubler earned a BS, cum laude, in physics from UC Irvine, an MS in physics from UC San Diego, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. Mr. Gubler is a CFA charterholder.
Arjun Jayaraman, PhD, CFA
Quantitative Portfolio Manager
Dr. Jayaraman is a director, quantitative portfolio manager and head of the quantitative research at Causeway and has been with the firm since January 2006. Dr. Jayaraman’s responsibilities and research include stock selection, asset allocation, risk model development, and portfolio construction.
From 2004 to 2005, Dr. Jayaraman was a portfolio manager at PanAgora Asset Management. He was the lead portfolio manager on the non-U.S. large cap core equity portfolios and was the co-portfolio manager on the global large cap core equity portfolios. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Jayaraman managed the same portfolios at Putnam Investments, in addition to working closely with the teams that managed Putnam's traditional non-U.S. strategies. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Jayaraman worked as a quantitative analyst at Harborview Trading Associates.
Dr. Jayaraman earned a PhD from New York University at the Stern School of Business and a BA in economics from Columbia University. Dr. Jayaraman is a CFA charterholder.
MacDuff Kuhnert, CFA
Mr. Kuhnert is a director and a quantitative portfolio manager at Causeway and has been with the firm since its inception in June 2001. Mr. Kuhnert’s responsibilities and research include stock selection, asset allocation, risk model development, and portfolio construction.
From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Kuhnert worked for the international team of the Hotchkis & Wiley division of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (HW-MLIM) as a quantitative research associate. During his tenure at HW-MLIM, Mr. Kuhnert created and developed advanced quantitative models used in the international value investment process. He also helped develop the team’s first equity risk model.
Mr. Kuhnert earned a BA in chemistry from Dartmouth College. He is a CFA charterholder, a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles, and a member of the Chicago Quantitative Alliance.
Ryan Myers
Mr. Myers is a quantitative portfolio manager at Causeway. He joined the firm in June 2013 and has been a portfolio manager since January 2021. His responsibilities include alpha research, stock selection, and portfolio construction.
From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Myers served as chief investment officer of Iron Castle Asset Management, an investment partnership focused on mid-cap U.S. equities. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Myers worked as an analyst at Canyon Partners, where he covered the cable, media, telecom and satellite sectors. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Myers was an associate for Oaktree Capital Management in the distressed opportunities group. Mr. Myers began his professional career in 2003 as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs in the technology, media and telecom group.
Mr. Myers earned a BA, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. Mr. Myers currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Yosemite Conservancy, an organization dedicated to supporting projects and programs that preserve Yosemite National Park and enrich the visitor experience.
Performance
The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth less than their original cost and current performance may be lower than the performance quoted. Returns greater than one year are average annual total returns. Total returns assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions at net asset value when paid. All information is as of the date shown. Investment performance reflects fee waivers. In the absence of such fee waivers, total return would be reduced. *Gross expenses before investment adviser fee waivers are 1.12% for Institutional Class shares and 1.37% for Investor Class shares. The waivers are contractual and in effect until 1/31/24. In the absence of such fee waivers, total return would be reduced. Investor Class shares charge up to a 0.25% annual shareholder service fee.
Portfolio (as of April 30, 2023)
Asset Allocation
| Fund | |
|---|---|
| Stocks | 97.7% |
| Cash | 2.3% |
Fund Characteristics
| Fund | Benchmark | |
|---|---|---|
| No. of holdings | 186 | 1377 |
| Weighted avg. market cap (US $MM) | $59,457 | $65,002 |
| NTM price/earnings | 7.0 | 10.2 |
| Price/book value | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| NTM EPS revision (wtd. avg) | 1.8 | -8.8 |
| Net assets | $233,784,059 | - |
TOP 10 ACTIVE HOLDINGS
| Security | Country | Active weight* |
|---|---|---|
| China Construction Bank Corp. | China | 2.0% |
| Banco do Brasil SA | Brazil | 1.8% |
| Kia Corp. | South Korea | 1.7% |
| PetroChina Co., Ltd. | China | 1.1% |
| Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. | India | 1.1% |
| Vipshop Holdings | China | 1.0% |
| ITC Ltd. | India | 1.0% |
| Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. | Taiwan | 1.0% |
| Tencent Music Entertainment Gr | China | 1.0% |
| Hana Financial Group, Inc. | South Korea | 0.9% |
A "weighted average” measures a characteristic by the market capitalization of each stock. Price/book value is the weighted average of the price/book values of all the stocks in a portfolio. The P/B value of a company is calculated by dividing the market price of its stock by the company’s per-share book value. The price/earnings ratio is the weighted average of the price/earnings ratios of the stocks in a portfolio. “Earnings-per-share” is the portion of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. “Earnings-per-share year-over-year estimate growth (next 12 months)” is the average next-12-month earnings-per-share estimate from one year ago for an individual company compared with that estimate today; note that this calculation is done on a company-by-company basis and is aggregated through a weighted average based on the individual company’s weight in the corresponding index. Also note that this characteristic is supplied directly by MSCI.
*Active defined as Fund weight minus MSCI EM Index weight. Holdings are subject to change.
SECTOR WEIGHTS
| Sector | Fund | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Information Technology | 20.3% | 19.7% |
| Financials | 16.5% | 22.1% |
| Industrials | 11.2% | 6.2% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 10.5% | 13.1% |
| Communication Services | 9.3% | 10.1% |
| Energy | 7.3% | 5.0% |
| Materials | 6.3% | 8.8% |
| Consumer Staples | 5.9% | 6.4% |
| Health Care | 3.9% | 3.9% |
| Equity Funds | 2.7% | 0.0% |
| Utilities | 1.9% | 2.7% |
| Real Estate | 0.7% | 1.9% |
TOP 10 COUNTRIES
| Country | Fund | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| China | 36.0% | 31.4% |
| Taiwan | 16.1% | 14.8% |
| South Korea | 14.3% | 12.0% |
| India | 14.0% | 13.7% |
| Brazil | 4.7% | 5.0% |
| Indonesia | 2.6% | 2.0% |
| Mexico | 2.4% | 2.7% |
| Thailand | 2.0% | 2.1% |
| Saudi Arabia | 1.5% | 4.2% |
| Turkey | 1.2% | 0.6% |
Regional Allocation
- Emerging Asia 85.0%
- Emerging Latin America 7.4%
- Emerging Europe, Middle East, Africa 5.3%
- Frontier 0.0%
- Multi Region Emerging (ETF) 0.0%
Distributions
| Dividends | Short-term capital gains | Long-term capital gains | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $0.3931 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2021 | $0.3478 | $0.0000 | $2.4046 |
| 2020 | $0.1787 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2019 | $0.2362 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2018 | $0.1777 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2017 | $0.1937 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2016 | $0.1353 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2015 | $0.1434 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2014 | $0.2425 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2013 | $0.1100 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2012 | $0.2768 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2011 | $0.0972 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2010 | $0.2560 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2009 | $0.2866 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2008 | $0.1506 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 |
| 2007 | $0.2097 | $0.4003 | $0.0000 |
Distributions are per share. Distribution amounts are based on gains and losses realized and income earned by the Fund through October 31 (or earlier under certain circumstances).
Documents
Fund information:
Forms:
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Commentary (As of April 30, 2023)
Highlights
Portfolio attribution
The Causeway Emerging Markets Fund (“Fund”), on a net asset value basis, outperformed the Index in April 2023. We use both bottom-up “stock-specific” and top-down factor categories to seek to forecast alpha for the stocks in the Fund’s investable universe. Our bottom-up growth and valuation factors were positive indicators during the month. Our technical (price momentum) and competitive strength factors were negative indicators. Of our top-down factors, country, sector, currency, and macroeconomic were negative indicators in April.
Economic outlook
Economic data in the US are indicating that growth is falling and inflation is cooling. The March ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index, fell sharply in March to 46.3, its lowest level since May 2020. The latest casualty in the banking crisis was First Republic Bank, whose assets were seized by regulators and sold to JP Morgan. Outside of this incident, however, volatility in the banking sector fell in April relative to March. Financial conditions are improving as reflected in high yield credit spreads, which fell slightly in April after spiking in March. With risk aversion stabilizing and the US Federal Reserve (“Fed”) seemingly nearing the end of its interest rate hiking cycle, the outlook for EM assets is positive. Furthermore, macroeconomic data in China, the largest country within the EM Index, have been positive. The country’s first quarter gross domestic product growth was 4.5%, exceeding most analyst estimates. Additionally, muted inflation near 2% should allow the Chinese government to engage in sufficient stimulus in order to meet its 5% growth target for 2023. We are overweight Chinese stocks in the Fund due to a combination of favorable valuation, price momentum, and macroeconomic characteristics.
Investment outlook
Earnings growth upgrades for EM equities continue to lag those in the ex-US developed markets. The EM countries with the weakest net upgrades included the externally-oriented economy of Taiwan, reflecting concerns that global growth is slowing. Net upgrades in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also negative, reflecting falling energy prices. The smaller countries of Poland, Indonesia, and Turkey had positive net upgrades as they tend to be less impacted by slowing global growth than some of their EM peers. The sectors with the strongest net upgrades were communication services and consumer discretionary. Both sectors are dominated by Chinese stocks, which are benefitting from the country’s easing Covid-19 restrictions and solid growth outlook. The sectors with negative net upgrades included information technology and materials, both reflecting global growth pessimism. With a balance of favorable valuation, growth, and price momentum characteristics relative to the Index, we believe the portfolio offers attractive risk-adjusted return potential looking forward.
The market commentary expresses the portfolio managers’ views as of the date of this report and should not be relied on as research or investment advice regarding any stock. These views and the Fund holdings and characteristics are subject to change. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Any securities identified and described in this report do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold or recommended for client accounts. The reader should not assume that an investment in the securities identified was or will be profitable. Diversification does not protect against market loss. Current and future holdings are subject to risk. The Fund may invest in derivatives, which are often more volatile than other investments and may magnify the Fund's gains or losses. Investing in ETFs is subject to the risks of the underlying funds. International and emerging markets investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from social, economic or political instability in other nations. Emerging markets and smaller companies involve additional risks and higher volatility.