EM Fund Stock Picks & Country Commentaries (May 26, 2024)
Frontier market investing tips, South Africa's doomsday election (May 29) + SA is a value investor’s dream, fund warning signs (when to re-evaluate owning one), “five Ds” driving global inflation, etc
As of late May and Memorial Day weekend, more factsheets, research and interesting podcasts (especially covering investor implications for the coming elections) have become available:
AFC Asia Frontier Fund managers appeared on these podcasts:
🎙️ Peter Lewis’ Money Talk: Ruchir Desai, Co-Fund Manager of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund discusses the Continued Strong Performance by Asian Frontier Markets and Why This Trend Should Continue (from 36:04) (From the 36:04 Minute Mark) - On Thursday’s “Peter Lewis’ Money Talk” podcast, I’m joined by Andrew Freris, the CEO of Ecognosis Advisory, and Alex Frew McMillan, a free-lance writer and Asia columnist for TheStreet.com. We also get an update on Asia’s Frontier Markets with Ruchir Desai of Asia Frontier Capital.
🎙️ This is from a Hong Kong business and finance radio show that might interest readers in general: RTHK Money Talk – Ruchir Desai, Co-Fund Manager of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund discusses with Chloe Feng on RTHK Money Talk, the strong outperformance in 2024 by Asian Frontier Markets led by Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. (10:03 Minutes)
abrdn thinks investors in the East should look West (Europe) for real estate returns: APAC investors should look west for real estate - Instead of seeking higher returns in emerging markets (EMs), should Asia-Pacific (APAC) investors look west to Europe for better risk-adjusted options?
Janus Henderson Investors has these interesting pieces:
🚨📈 This piece mentioned several European small cap stocks beyond the scope of this Substack but worth noting: “Cheap is not enough” – finding value in a muted market - If attractive valuations for smaller companies aren’t enough to gain investors’ attention in the current cycle, just what else can small caps offer investors as a potential source of value?
This piece mentioned AI is a strategic priority in Saudi Arabia and the UAE while Malaysia and Indonesia are attracting data centers due in part to Singapore’s current moratorium on new ones: Enabling AI: Geopolitical implications from an investment perspective - Portfolio Managers Richard Clode and Guy Barnard discuss how geopolitical factors have a significant impact on technology and property, two sectors that play a major role in enabling AI.
The following Asia focused funds have new factsheets, commentaries, research pieces, podcasts or webinars that would interest investors in Asia: