Global Equities (Regional & Emerging Markets)
Winner
Lazard Emerging Markets Fund
Finalists
Aberdeen Emerging Opportunities Fund
Fidelity China Fund
Retaining nerve and riding through the tough geopolitical challenges of the past year saw Lazard Asset Management rewarded with the top prize in the Global Equities (Regional & Emerging) category at this year’s award ceremony.
Portfolio manager, James Donald said the success of the fund was down to strong involvement from the Lazard team throughout the investment process, and a well-developed bottom-up research plan.
Donald said the fund manager had not reacted to short-term noise in the market, and instead had maintained its conviction when energy, emerging markets and equities had underperformed.
“The key to our strong performance in 2016 was really sticking to our process when it came under pressure from short-term volatility,” he said.
“In searching for under-valued, under-appreciated stocks, Lazard follows an investment process that incorporates three types of investment research.
“All members of the team are 100 per cent dedicated to emerging markets equity investing.”
The judges confirmed that the ‘value’ style of Lazard’s approach translated to solid confidence through various investment cycles.
The fund manager was also praised for its regard for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and its ability to remain true to its investment approach.
Aberdeen Asset Management investment specialist, Josh Hall, said the fund manager’s Emerging Opportunities Fund had also seen a push for more consideration for ESG-related issues.
Hall said markets had been a rollercoaster of political concerns over the past 12 months, but that emerging countries were in a stronger fiscal position for the new financial year.
Portfolio manager of returning nominee Fidelity International, Jing Ning, said the fund manager’s Fidelity China Fund had been led by its approach of recognising the intrinsic value in the investment thesis of each stock and its place within the assessment of an investment opportunity.
Ning said the investment future in China would see fund managers work around the structural shift toward a consumption-driven economy, with the East Asian nation set to present a myriad of attractive investment opportunities for the long-term investor moving forward.
