Diversified exposure to emerging markets, capturing value and growth

The Emerging Markets strategy invests primarily in common stocks of emerging markets companies. The strategy combines value and growth, and bottom-up and top-down factors. Our quantitative stock selection process is focused on attractively valued companies with superior earnings prospects and positive market sentiment; these companies should produce consistent returns across investment cycles. We use the same approach to select sectors and countries, comparing valuation against earnings growth and market sentiment. At the country level, we also consider the health of the macro-economy. Our quantitative process seeks to combine these factors while attempting to avoid undue sources of risk, which for this strategy we define as tracking error (a measurement of dispersion from a benchmark index).

Benchmark
MSCI Emerging Markets in USD
Inception
April 30, 2007
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Strategy overview

The portfolio managers discuss our Emerging Markets Equity strategy.

Portfolio managers

Quantitative Portfolio Manager
Head of Quantitative Research
Quantitative Portfolio Manager
Quantitative Portfolio Manager
Quantitative Portfolio Manager

Performance

Table Header QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 27.3%32.7%69.4%34.7%12.9%13.5%8.2%
Strategy (net) 27.2%32.3%68.0%33.6%11.9%12.5%7.2%
MSCI Emerging Markets 25.9%25.7%55.1%25.8%8.0%11.1%6.0%
Table Header QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 27.3%32.7%69.4%34.7%12.9%13.5%8.2%
Strategy (net) 27.2%32.3%68.0%33.6%11.9%12.5%7.2%
MSCI Emerging Markets 25.9%25.7%55.1%25.8%8.0%11.1%6.0%
Table Header QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 4.2%4.2%42.6%23.9%8.2%10.5%6.9%
Strategy (net) 4.0%4.0%41.3%22.8%7.3%9.5%5.9%
MSCI Emerging Markets -0.1%-0.1%30.3%15.4%4.2%8.2%4.8%
Table Header QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 4.2%4.2%42.6%23.9%8.2%10.5%6.9%
Strategy (net) 4.0%4.0%41.3%22.8%7.3%9.5%5.9%
MSCI Emerging Markets -0.1%-0.1%30.3%15.4%4.2%8.2%4.8%
Fund 202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008
Strategy (gross) 37.9%16.8%19.1%-21.8%-0.3%18.1%18.1%-16.8%41.1%10.5%-15.1%3.4%-1.3%27.5%-17.0%28.0%90.5%-57.8%
Strategy (net) 36.7%15.8%18.1%-22.5%-1.2%17.1%17.1%-17.5%39.8%9.4%-16.0%2.4%-2.3%26.2%-17.9%26.7%88.7%-58.2%
MSCI Emerging Markets 34.4%8.1%10.3%-19.7%-2.2%18.7%18.9%-14.2%37.8%11.6%-14.6%-1.8%-2.3%18.6%-18.2%19.2%79.0%-53.2%
Table Header
Strategy (gross)
Strategy (net)
MSCI Emerging Markets
202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008
37.9%16.8%19.1%-21.8%-0.3%18.1%18.1%-16.8%41.1%10.5%-15.1%3.4%-1.3%27.5%-17.0%28.0%90.5%-57.8%
36.7%15.8%18.1%-22.5%-1.2%17.1%17.1%-17.5%39.8%9.4%-16.0%2.4%-2.3%26.2%-17.9%26.7%88.7%-58.2%
34.4%8.1%10.3%-19.7%-2.2%18.7%18.9%-14.2%37.8%11.6%-14.6%-1.8%-2.3%18.6%-18.2%19.2%79.0%-53.2%

Portfolio (as of May 31, 2026)

Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets
Asset Allocation
Table Header Strategy
Stocks 98.3%
Cash 1.7%
Strategy Characteristics
Table Header Strategy Benchmark
No. of holdings 175 1205
Weighted avg. market cap (US $MM) $454,884 $448,261
FY2 price/earnings 9.2 10.8
Price/book value 2.3 2.6
Dividend yield (%) 2.0 1.8
TOP 10 HOLDINGS
Security Country Active weight*
SK hynix, Inc. South Korea 1.9%
China Construction Bank Corp. China 1.8%
Gold Circuit Electronics Ltd. Taiwan 1.1%
Accton Technology Corp. Taiwan 1.1%
Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd. Taiwan 1.1%
Delta Electronics, Inc. Taiwan 1.0%
LG Innotek Co., Ltd. South Korea 0.9%
Contemporary Amperex Tech Co., Ltd. China 0.7%
Wiwynn Corp. Taiwan 0.7%
Credicorp Ltd. Peru 0.7%

A "weighted average” measures a characteristic by the market capitalization of each stock. Price/book ratio is the weighted average of the price/book ratios of all the stocks in a portfolio. The P/B ratio 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-twelve-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 Portfolio weight minus MSCI EM Index weight. Holdings are subject to change.

SECTOR WEIGHTS
Sector Strategy Benchmark
Information Technology 49.6% 43.2%
Financials 13.6% 17.8%
Materials 8.0% 6.0%
Industrials 7.9% 7.0%
Consumer Discretionary 6.2% 8.5%
Energy 4.5% 3.3%
Communication Services 4.4% 6.1%
Health Care 2.0% 2.4%
Real Estate 1.1% 1.0%
Utilities 0.5% 1.9%
Consumer Staples 0.4% 2.8%
TOP 10 COUNTRIES
Country Strategy Benchmark
Taiwan 28.9% 26.4%
South Korea 27.4% 23.1%
China 20.0% 20.4%
India 7.9% 10.9%
South Africa 2.4% 3.0%
Brazil 2.0% 3.9%
Saudi Arabia 1.2% 2.4%
Thailand 1.2% 1.0%
Mexico 1.1% 1.7%
Poland 1.1% 1.0%
Regional Allocation
  • Emerging Asia 86.7%
  • Emerging Europe, Middle East, Africa 6.7%
  • Emerging Latin America 4.5%
  • North America 0.4%

Commentary (As of April 30, 2026)

Highlights

  • Bolstered by information technology companies, emerging markets equities rebounded in April.
  • The conflict in the Middle East remains fluid and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been limited. This has fueled volatility in energy prices and global equity markets.
  • Two of the Portfolio’s largest country overweights, South Korea and Taiwan, are importers of oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (“LNG”). Rising energy prices heavily impacted stock returns in these markets in March, but hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict and structural tailwinds helped them rebound in April. We continue to identify, in our view, attractive investment opportunities in these countries, due to compelling bottom-up and top-down characteristics.

Portfolio Attribution

The Portfolio outperformed the Index in April 2026. We use both bottom-up “stock-specific” and top-down factor categories to forecast alpha for the stocks in the Portfolio’s investable universe. Our bottom-up growth and technical (price momentum) factors were positive indicators while competitive strength was neutral during the month. Valuation and corporate events were negative indicators. Our top-down macroeconomic and currency were positive indicators while country/sector aggregate was a negative indicator in April.

During the month, Portfolio holdings in the emerging Asia region contributed to relative performance, due primarily to positive stock selection in Taiwan and China, and an overweighting to South Korea. In the emerging Europe, Middle East, and Africa (“EMEA”) region, an underweight position in Saudi Arabia contributed to relative performance. An underweight position in Brazil contributed to relative performance in emerging Latin America. From a sector perspective, information technology, financials, and consumer staples contributed to relative performance. Industrials, materials, and real estate detracted from relative performance. The greatest stock-level contributors to relative performance included overweight positions in semiconductor company, SK hynix, Inc. (South Korea), electronic equipment manufacturer, Gold Circuit Electronics Ltd.(Taiwan), and networking & communications equipment manufacturer, Accton Technology Corp. (Taiwan). The largest stock-level detractors from relative performance included underweight positions in semiconductor companies, MediaTek, Inc.(Taiwan), and SK Square Co. Ltd. (South Korea), as well as an overweight position in aluminum producer, China Hongqiao Group Ltd. (China).

Investment Outlook

The conflict in the Middle East remains fluid and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been limited. This has fueled volatility in energy prices and global equity markets. Two of the Portfolio’s largest country overweights, South Korea and Taiwan, are importers of oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (“LNG”). Rising energy prices heavily impacted stock returns in these markets in March, but hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict and structural tailwinds helped them rebound in April. We continue to identify, in our view, attractive investment opportunities in these countries, due to compelling botton-up and top-down characteristics. The Portfolio was underweight Indian equities as of quarter-end due in part to valuation considerations, which diversifies the portfolio’s energy exposure as India is also an oil importer. The Portfolio was also underweight Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”) countries as of quarter-end. We believe the conflict in the Middle East will eventually wind down and some semblance of normalcy will return for most economies. However, this path to normalcy may be longer for the GCC countries as some have suffered significant infrastructure damage. The conflict should further incentivize energy-importing countries to diversify away from the Middle East. While the valuations of stocks in GCC countries are increasingly attractive, we do not believe this adequately compensates for the increased risks. Amid a backdrop of rising energy prices, the new chair of the US Federal Reserve (“Fed”), Kevin Warsh, faces a challenge. He needs to determine if the rising prices are transitory as he seeks to balance inflation and growth considerations. Rising US interest rates driven by inflation concerns and a flight to safety amid market volatility have contributed to falling EM currencies.

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 portfolio holdings and characteristics are subject to change. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. The securities identified and described above 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. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For a description of our performance attribution methodology, or to obtain a list showing every holding's contribution to the overall account's performance during the quarter, please contact our product manager, Kevin Moutes, at 310-231-6116 or [email protected].