Rondure New World + Overseas Fund EM Stock Holdings (Mid-2024)
A closer look at around 100 individual emerging market stock holdings of the soon to close Rondure New World Fund (MUTF: RNWOX / RNWIX) and the liquidated Rondure Overseas Fund (MUTF: ROSOX / ROSIX).
Rondure Global Advisors is a woman-owned investment adviser headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, who manages the Rondure New World Fund (MUTF: RNWOX / RNWIX) and the now liquidated Rondure Overseas Fund (MUTF: ROSOX / ROSIX) who’s holdings we covered last year: Rondure New World + Overseas Fund EM Stock Holdings (Mid-2023).
In late September, the fund manager made the following announcement:
📯 Final Shareholder Letter (Rondure Global Advisors)
It is with heavy hearts and thoughtful consideration that we inform you that the Rondure New World Fund (MUTF: RNWOX / RNWIX) will be liquidated on October 18, 2024, and with this closure, we will also be closing Rondure Global Advisors.
The economic landscape of our emerging markets-focused strategies has been challenging for some time. Our entire team has been dedicated to facing those challenges with the constant objective to achieve long-term positive returns for our clients and investors. Unfortunately, recent unforeseen developments within our business have forced us to reevaluate our ability to continue. It is a painful outcome and certainly not a decision we anticipated ever having to make, particularly when we think emerging markets remain such an interesting and compelling long-term investment. We did not make this decision lightly, but ultimately, consideration of the economic and operational realities of continuing the firm have led us to realize closing is the best outcome for our clients.
If you, like us, remain intrigued by the long-term opportunities in the emerging markets space, we have talked with Grandeur Peak Global Advisors about allowing Rondure clients to invest in their soft closed Grandeur Peak Emerging Markets Fund (MUTF: GPEIX).
Its not clear what the firm’s actual situation is from the short press release as with the recent Fed rate cut and the dollar’s value easing a bit, now seems like an odd time to throw in the towel on investing in international or emerging markets.
These profile or interview pieces discuss how the firm operates:
📰 Globe-Trotting in Pursuit of Index-Beating Returns (Barron’s) October 2017 🗃️
Traveling the world and meeting companies gives Laura Geritz and her team at Rondure Global Advisors insights that lead to superior stock analysis.
Think of the foreign-stock analyst and a glamorous globe-trotter comes to mind, chatting with CEOs from far-flung lands, preferably in five-star hotels. In their hunt for global value, Laura Geritz and her team at Rondure Global Advisors rack up the miles. But because it’s their clients’ money, they travel coach and stay in cheap hotels.
📰 Global Investor Is on Her Own (WSJ) April 2018 🗃️
Star mutual-fund manager Laura Geritz last year left Wasatch Advisors and put everything she had into a new fund company in Salt Lake City.
She also left the world where managers get performance bonuses. At Rondure Global Advisors , she limited her own pay and cut out most of the bonus structure. “If I do my job and pick the right stocks,” she says, “I’ll be very well-compensated, along with our clients, in the end; if not, then I don’t deserve it.… I’m confident.”
Ms. Geritz, who made a name running international, emerging-markets and frontier funds for Wasatch, started her firm with Wasatch friends who five years before opened Grandeur Peak Global Advisors. That firm does back-office, compliance and accounting support for Rondure.
This podcast is long, but well worth a listen:
🎥 RWH040: GO GLOBAL W/ LAURA GERITZ (We Study Billionaires) 2:05:15 Hours (January 2024)
In this episode, William Green chats with Laura Geritz, founder of Rondure Global Advisors, which scours the globe in search of high-quality companies trading at attractive prices in places like India, China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil, & Mexico. Here, Laura makes the case for allocating more money to undervalued stocks outside the US. She also discusses her unusual lifestyle, which is built around relentless travel, voracious reading, & abundant time to think.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
How Laura Geritz earned the nickname “Money Bags.”
How she broke into the investment industry by living in Japan.
How she was shaped by the frugal, unflashy culture of rural Kansas.
What she learned from her mentor & partner, Robert Gardiner.
Why so many talented women quit the investment business.
Why she believes many investors are taking too much risk.
Why foreign stocks may be overdue for a powerful rebound.
How she weighs the risks & rewards of Chinese stocks.
How she screens 70,000 stocks to identify great businesses.
What foreign investors don’t understand about Japanese companies.
How to become a continuous learning machine.
How Laura handles adversity when her investing style is out of favor.
Why she maintains a remarkably uncluttered calendar.
After listening to Geritz, I do have to wonder if she’s closing the firm for personal reasons to pursue other interests albeit the press release seems to suggest other issues (cashflow?).
Otherwise and as mentioned in last Sunday’s post, the first ten minutes of the Catch up on the 2024 Platinum Investor Roadshow (55:55 Minutes) webinar discussed some of the structural/organizational/portfolio problems Australia based Platinum Asset Management has faced and how they have reorganized themselves to address these problems.
In addition, we did this piece in 2022 when star fund manager Terry Smith liquidated his emerging markets fund:
Terry Smith's ("the English Warren Buffett") mature growth stock investing style hit some snags when applied to emerging markets as he prepares to liquidate his Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust plc.
Getting back to Rondure Global Advisors’ funds, it seemed like last year that both of their funds had an unusually high number of SE Asian stocks as holdings or a percentage of total holdings which may have impacted performance (given that the region is not popular with fund managers).
Here is the performance of Rondure New World Fund (MUTF: RNWOX / RNWIX) and the now liquidated Rondure Overseas Fund (MUTF: ROSOX / ROSIX) as of last year:
And as of now:
That’s not a particularly spectacular performance, but the fund is not overly concentrated in a couple of particularly hot stocks (e.g. Nvidia or TSMC) which has no doubt influenced the performance of many funds or ETFs. For example: As noted in our recent Taiwan ETF Holdings (Early 2024) post, those ETFs have almost a quarter of their holdings in TSMC alone. So long as TSMC outperforms, those ETFs will also outperform (and probably perform better than the Taiwan closed-end fund).
Nevertheless, the diverse holdings of Rondure New World Fund and the already liquidated Rondure Overseas Fund are worth taking a closer look at to help fill any gaps in your portfolio.
To make your life easier, this post includes:
Which fund or funds own the stock as a holding.
A quick description of the stock holding with links to the IR page and stock quote(s) on Yahoo! Finance or Finviz (for US Listings).
A link to any Wikipedia page (for what it might be worth…)
A price/book (most recent quarter) ratio plus forward or trailing P/E and dividend yields linked back to the Yahoo! Finance statistics page.
The latest long term technical chart linked back to Yahoo! Finance.
Fund holding dates:
Rondure New World Fund (MUTF: RNWOX / RNWIX): FULL HOLDINGS as of 07/31/2024
Rondure Overseas Fund (MUTF: ROSOX / ROSIX): FULL HOLDINGS as of 07/31/2023
All stocks not already tagged and added to our index pages have also been added to them:
And as always, this post is provided for informational purposes only (and to make your life easier by providing you with relevant information, links, and charts). It does not constitute investment advice and/or a recommendation…
Asia
East Asia
🇨🇳 China
ANTA Sports Products, Ltd.
[Rondure New World Fund]
ANTA Sports Products (HKG: 2020 / FRA: AS7 / OTCMKTS: ANPDY / OTCMKTS: ANPDF) is involved in the design, R&D, manufacturing, marketing and sales of professional sports products, including shoes, apparel and accessories to Chinese consumers. By embracing an all-round brand portfolio including ANTA, FILA, DESCENTE and KOLON SPORT, and by setting up an investor consortium to successfully acquire Amer Sports in 2019 (a global sportswear group that has internationally recognized brands including Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, Atomic, etc.), ANTA Sports aims to unlock the potential of both the mass and high-end sportswear markets.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 4.50
Forward P/E: 19.08 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 2.29% (Yahoo! Finance)
Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd.
[Rondure New World Fund]
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 2.06
Forward P/E: 13.42 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 1.74% (Yahoo! Finance)
Autohome
[Rondure New World Fund]
Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) is the leading online destination for automobile consumers in China with three websites: autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn.
As a transaction-centric company, Autohome operates its “Autohome Mall,” a full-service online transaction platform, to facilitate transactions for automakers and dealers. Further, through its website and mobile applications, it also provides other value-added services, including auto financing, auto insurance, used car transactions, and aftermarket services.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 1.20
Forward P/E: 15.77 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 4.99% (Yahoo! Finance)
China Resources Beer Holdings Co., Ltd.
[Rondure New World Fund]
China Resources Beer Holdings or CR Beer (HKG: 0291 / FRA: CHK / OTCMKTS: CRHKY / CRHKF) is a beer listed subsidiary company of China Resources (Holdings) Company Limited (one of the largest state-owned conglomerates in China). The Group focuses on the manufacturing, sales and distribution of beer products. China Resources Snow Breweries Limited (“CRSB”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In 2019, the Group commenced a strategic partnership with the Heineken Group.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 3.19
Forward P/E: 16.86 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 2.27% (Yahoo! Finance)
