EM Fund Stock Picks & Country Commentaries (November 2, 2025)

China corporate governance reforms, ASEAN's tariff advantage, Jardine Matheson, Shell plc, Remgro, Reinet, Booking Holdings, frontier markets stocks/bonds portfolio role, Sept/Q3 fund updates, etc.

As of the start of November, more September/Q3 fund updates have become available (our continuously updated post containing all funds is here - August research has been removed) along with new research starting with some non-EM pieces focused on finding data alternatives when a government (in this case the USA’s) shuts down:

• 🔬🌐 FX Talking: No data, no bears (ING) - Depriving investors of US macro data, the government shutdown has brought a reprieve to the dollar. Bears have become discouraged by the lack of soft jobs evidence, and many have thrown in the towel. Dollar positioning looks more balanced now, but we see this as a temporary dollar bounce before two further Fed cuts and seasonal weakness into year-end

• 🔬🌐 Running an NLP Model During the Shutdown Data Void (PGIM) - In an era where partial shutdowns of the U.S. government are increasingly frequent occurrences, investors are left to scour for alternative data sources. Our NLP-based attentiveness scores offer a timely read on which side of the dual mandate is commanding the conversation, providing context around expectations for market pricing and/or potential policy adjustments.

• 🔬🌐 Shutdown Economics (State Street) - When public data goes dark, alternative indicators step into the spotlight. Here’s how strategists and economists are navigating economic blind spots created by the US government shutdown.

• 🔬🇪🇺🚩 Watch now: The case for an improving outlook in Europe (Fidelity) - After many years of being out of favour, the prospects for Europe are looking much more positive for a number of reasons. First, European defence spending is rising sharply to levels which seemed unlikely not long ago. In addition, we have seen Germany lift its fiscal debt brake, marking a major policy shift. These moves have significant implications for European spending and broader economic growth. More importantly, they signal that Europe is ready to act on some of its long-standing issues and we hope to see lower bureaucracy and tighter Europe-wide integration as a result.

  • Novo Nordisk

  • Legrand

  • ASML

  • Roche

  • Lonza

  • SAP

  • L’Oréal

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New Asia Fund Documents & Research

• 🔬🌏 Asia Pacific real estate market outlook Q4 2025 (Aberdeen Investments) - We have raised our total return forecasts for real estate in APAC over the next three-to-five years. Read more about our outlook.

• 🎙️🌏 RTHK Money Talk – Ruchir Desai, Co-Fund Manager of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund Discusses with Steven Filby Why Asian Frontier Markets are in a Sweet Spot Going into 2026 (RTHK Money Talk) 9:02 Minutes - Ruchir Desai, Fund Manager at Asia Frontier Capital talks about the performance of the frontier markets and what is driving the growth.

• 🗄️🎬 Asian Frontier Markets Update 30th October 2025 (Asia Frontier Capital) 1:14:47 Minutes

  • 00:00 - Thomas Hugger – Introduction

  • 01:49 - Ruchir Desai – AFC Asia Frontier Fund

  • 21:35 - Ahmed Tabaqchali – AFC Iraq Fund

  • 34:21 - Scott Osheroff – AFC Uzbekistan Fund

  • 44:50 - Vicente Nguyen – AFC Vietnam Fund

  • 55:32 - Q&A

• 🗄️🌏 Fidelity Asian Values Plc (LON: FAS)’s Final Results for the year ended 31 July 2025 discussed or mentioned:

  • 📈🇹🇼 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE: TSM) 🇼 🏷️

  • 📈🇦🇺 De Grey Mining Ltd (ASX: DEG / FRA: DGD / OTCMKTS: DGMLF) - Multi-commodity explorer with a presence in the WA Pilbara region.

  • 📈🇭🇰 Crystal International Group (HKG: 2232 / OTCMKTS: CRYIF) 🇰🇾 - Clothing maker. 🇼

  • 📉🏧🇮🇳 Axis Bank (NSE: AXISBANK / BOM: 532215 / FRA: UZC) - Third largest private sector bank in India covering Large & Mid-Corporates, MSME, Agriculture & Retail Businesses. 🇼 🏷️

  • 📉🇮🇳 IndusInd Bank (NSE: INDUSINDBK / BOM: 532187) - Financial services brand. Preferred banking solutions provider. India + representative offices in London, Dubai & Abu Dhabi. Wide range of products & services. 🇼 🏷️

  • 📉🇮🇩🏛️ Bank Negara Indonesia (IDX: BBNI / FRA: BKE1 / OTCMKTS: PBNNF / PTBRY) - Originally established as Indonesia’s central Bank. 🇼 🏷️

  • 🏧🇹🇼 Pacific Hospital Supply Co Ltd (TPEX: 4126) - Disposable medical supplies, medical equipment & centralized medicinal gas piping systems.

  • 🏧🇹🇭 Mega Lifesciences PCL (BKK: MEGA) - Brands, Distribution & Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM). Health food supplements, prescription pharma, OTC products, herbal products, vitamins, etc. 🏷️