Analyse/Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Equity: Gold

Der Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Equity ist einer der stärksten Fonds für Schwellenländeraktien. Qualitätsfokus hebt ihn von der Benchmark ab, was auch Underperformance-Phasen zur Folge haben kann.

Amaya Assan 05.03.2014
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The Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Equity benefits from a robust process and a well-resourced team. The global emerging-markets team comprises over 45 members with extensive experience in the region. We particularly like the stability of the team and the low level of turnover, with senior managers having been with Aberdeen for more than 10 years. The Asia Pacific ex-Japan portion of this fund is managed from Singapore, under the stewardship of Hugh Young, while the London-based team, headed by Devan Kaloo, covers emerging markets ex-Asia.

The chief attraction continues to be the process, which has been applied consistently since the fund’s inception and is the cornerstone of Aberdeen’s investment philosophy. This very bottom-up process reflects the team members' strong emphasis on finding value and quality. In their view, quality firms exhibit sustainable, competitive business models, strong balance sheets, high returns on assets and capital, and good corporate governance. As a result, the team favours Hong Kong-domiciled companies to gain exposure to China’s growth as corporate governance is typically stronger there.

The team considers investments for the long term--as highlighted by the fund’s low turnover--and pays little attention to the benchmark when constructing the portfolio. They are also firm believers that returns should be considered on an absolute, rather than relative basis. This philosophy, combined with the focus on quality and longer-term investing, can lead to periods of relative underperformance. For example, the fund was behind the MSCI Emerging Markets index and category peers in 2013: Currency played a big role in the underperformance during the year--for instance in May when talks of US tapering emerged, not owning stable peg currencies such as China as well stock selection in the region hurt performance.

All told, this fund benefits from a stable global and well-resourced team, proven and rigorous process, and a compelling track record over the long term. We maintain our highest Analyst Rating of Gold.

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Über den Autor

Amaya Assan  is a fund analyst with Morningstar OBSR.