Emerging Markets UCITS Fund – EUR

Portfolio Attribution

The Fund underperformed the Index in February 2025. 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 technical (price momentum), growth, and valuation factors were positive indicators in February. Competitive strength and corporate events were negative indicators. Our top-down country/sector aggregate and macroeconomic factors were positive indicators while currency was neutral.

Quarterly Investment Outlook

In the US, Donald Trump won the presidential election on a platform of higher tariffs and tighter immigration policies and the implications for EM assets are nuanced. Higher tariffs should be negative for EM as it is an export-oriented asset class. However, the incoming Trump administration’s policies may cause higher structural inflation and greater US fiscal deficits, leading to a weaker US dollar in the medium to long-term, which could bolster EM assets. In South Korea, the country’s parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in December after he attempted to impose martial law. Korea’s parliament then impeached his replacement, Han Duck-soo, two weeks later, replacing him with finance minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president. Despite these near-term political challenges, we remain overweight South Korean stocks in the Portfolio, due in part to compelling valuations. We believe the country’s Value Up initiative will continue as it is supported by both leading political parties in the country. In China, authorities have continued to discuss supporting the country’s economy and markets. The communication from the December politburo meeting indicated moderately accommodative monetary policy and emphasized the need to stabilize China’s property market. At its Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC), authorities pledged to increase the budget deficit, issue more debt, and loosen monetary policy to support the economy. We are modestly overweight Chinese stocks in the Portfolio, due in part to attractive valuations.

Emerging Markets UCITS Fund

Portfolio Attribution

The Causeway Emerging Markets UCITS Fund (“Fund”) performed in-line with the Index in April 2022. 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 valuation and price momentum factors were positive indicators during the month while growth and competitive strength were negative. Of our top-down factors, our macroeconomic and currency factors were positive. Our country and sector factors were negative indicators in April.

Investment Outlook

Earnings growth upgrades for EM equities continue to lag those in developed markets. EM sectors with the weakest earnings upgrades were communication services, consumer discretionary, and real estate. All three of these sectors are dominated by Chinese stocks, which were impacted by the Covid-19 lockdowns. The sectors with the strongest earnings upgrades were energy, information technology, and financials. Energy benefitted from strong oil prices and information technology benefitted from positive revisions for a few larger capitalization stocks. Financials benefitted from rising interest rates. The countries with the weakest net upgrades include China, India, and Thailand. While Covid-19 containment policies have weighed on Chinese stocks, rising commodity prices have dampened the growth outlook for Indian equities. The countries with the strongest net upgrades include Taiwan, Turkey, and Mexico. Positive revisions for larger capitalization companies drove strength in Taiwan. We are overweight Taiwanese stocks in the Fund due to attractive bottom-up and top-down characteristics. Mexican stocks have benefitted from economic linkages with the US. While we incorporate growth expectations into our multi-factor investment process, we continue to emphasize valuation in our approach. With a balance of favorable valuation, growth, and price momentum characteristics relative to the Index, we believe the portfolio provides outperformance potential looking forward.