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
March 29, 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

QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) -6.1%16.4%21.9%4.1%6.6%4.7%5.2%
Strategy (net) -6.2%15.5%20.8%3.2%5.6%3.8%4.3%
MSCI Emerging Markets -7.8%8.1%12.4%-0.8%3.6%3.6%3.4%
QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) -6.1%16.4%21.9%4.1%6.6%4.7%5.2%
Strategy (net) -6.2%15.5%20.8%3.2%5.6%3.8%4.3%
MSCI Emerging Markets -7.8%8.1%12.4%-0.8%3.6%3.6%3.4%
QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 4.6%24.0%33.5%5.0%8.9%5.5%5.7%
Strategy (net) 4.3%23.2%32.3%4.0%7.9%4.6%4.7%
MSCI Emerging Markets 8.9%17.2%26.5%0.8%6.1%4.4%3.9%
QTD YTD 1 year3 years5 years10 years Since inception
Strategy (gross) 4.6%24.0%33.5%5.0%8.9%5.5%5.7%
Strategy (net) 4.3%23.2%32.3%4.0%7.9%4.6%4.7%
MSCI Emerging Markets 8.9%17.2%26.5%0.8%6.1%4.4%3.9%
Fund 2023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008
Strategy (gross) 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) 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 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%
Strategy (gross)
Strategy (net)
MSCI Emerging Markets
2023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008
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%
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%
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 October 31, 2024)

Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets
Asset Allocation
Strategy
Stocks 98.7%
Cash 1.3%
Strategy Characteristics
Strategy Benchmark
No. of holdings 186 1278
Weighted avg. market cap (US $MM) $129,144 $123,941
NTM price/earnings 8.6 12.1
Price/book value 1.4 1.9
Dividend yield (%) 3.0 2.5
NTM EPS revision (wtd. avg) 15.3 5.0
TOP 10 HOLDINGS
Security Country Active weight*
REC Ltd. India 1.7%
China Construction Bank Corp. China 1.5%
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Taiwan 1.4%
Kia Corp. South Korea 1.3%
Ping An China 1.3%
Tencent Holdings Ltd. China 1.2%
Shriram Finance Ltd. India 1.1%
International Games System Co., Ltd. Taiwan 1.0%
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. India 1.0%
Cosco Shipping Holdings Co China 0.9%

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 23.7% 23.7%
Financials 20.0% 23.2%
Consumer Discretionary 15.0% 13.5%
Industrials 13.2% 6.7%
Communication Services 9.8% 9.0%
Health Care 4.8% 3.5%
Energy 3.5% 4.6%
Materials 3.3% 6.5%
Consumer Staples 2.2% 5.0%
Utilities 2.1% 2.8%
Real Estate 1.1% 1.6%
TOP 10 COUNTRIES
Country Strategy Benchmark
China 28.3% 27.4%
Taiwan 22.9% 19.1%
India 21.1% 18.8%
South Korea 13.7% 10.1%
Brazil 3.6% 4.8%
Turkey 1.8% 0.6%
Indonesia 1.4% 1.6%
Malaysia 1.1% 1.4%
United Arab Emirates 1.1% 1.2%
Thailand 0.9% 1.5%
Regional Allocation
  • Emerging Asia 89.8%
  • Emerging Europe, Middle East, Africa 4.9%
  • Emerging Latin America 4.0%

Commentary (As of October 31, 2024)

Highlights

  • After months of gains, EM equities retreated in October as the 10-Year US Treasury Yield rose during the month, bolstering the US dollar and weighing on EM assets.
  • Chinese authorities, recognizing the inadequacy of recent efforts, have introduced aggressive measures to stimulate their economy. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the required reserve ratio for Chinese banks by 50 basis points, a larger reduction than most investors anticipated, freeing up approximately 1 trillion yuan for new lending. We believe additional interest rate cuts, and broader measures to support the Chinese real estate market, are likely.
  • South Korean stocks represent one of the Portfolio’s largest country overweights. During the third quarter, the South Korean stock exchange announced the index constituents linked to its Value-Up program. The Index criteria are profitability, shareholder return, valuation, and capital efficiency. From a sector perspective, information technology and industrials are the largest sectors in the Index. The Portfolio is overweight South Korean stocks due primarily to attractive valuations. We include quality in our model and we believe the Portfolio’s South Korean investments will benefit if the Value-Up initiative gains traction.

Portfolio Attribution

The Portfolio outperformed the Index in October 2024. We use both bottom-up “stock-specific” and top-down factor categories to seek to forecast alpha for the stocks in the Portfolio’s investable universe. Our bottom-up growth, technical (price momentum), and corporate events factors were positive indicators in October. Our valuation and competitive strength factors were negative indicators. Our top-down macroeconomic and country/sector aggregate were positive indicators, while currency was a negative indicator.

Quarterly Investment Outlook

During the third quarter, the US Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate and indicated that additional interest rate cuts are likely. More accommodative central bank policy in the US, and the potential for a weaker US dollar, should be tailwinds for EM assets. Chinese authorities, recognizing the inadequacy of recent efforts, have introduced aggressive measures to stimulate their economy. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the required reserve ratio for Chinese banks by 50 basis points, a larger reduction than most investors anticipated, freeing up approximately 1 trillion yuan for new lending. We believe additional interest rate cuts, and broader measures to support the Chinese real estate market, are likely. The PBOC also increased financing availability for stock repurchase activity, which we believe will support China’s financial markets. On the consumption side, several Chinese cities and provinces have announced vouchers to bolster spending in a variety of goods and services, including traveling, dine-in, and sports. The Portfolio was overweight Chinese stocks due in part to valuation considerations. South Korean stocks represent one of the Portfolio’s largest country overweights. During the third quarter, the South Korean stock exchange announced the index constituents linked to its Value-Up program. The Index criteria are profitability, shareholder return, valuation, and capital efficiency. From a sector perspective, information technology and industrials are the largest sectors in the Index. The Portfolio is overweight South Korean stocks due primarily to attractive valuations. We include quality in our model and we believe the Portfolio’s South Korean investments will benefit if the Value-Up initiative gains traction.

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].