EM Fund Stock Picks & Country Commentaries (May 19, 2024)

As of mid-May, more April factsheets and research have become available:

📈 AFC Asia Frontier Fund’s April newsletter (detailed economic and portfolio) is available and discussed or mentioned Kazakh Fintech-super app KASPI (LON: 80TE / FRA: KKS); Vietnamese IT services stock FPT Corp(HOSE: FPT), port operator Gemadept (HOSE: GMD), luxury car dealer Hang Xanh Motors Service JSC (HOSE: HAX); Bangladesh generic pharma stock Beximco Pharmaceuticals (DSE: BXPH / LON: BXP / FRA: R2WA) and branded-generic drugmaker Square Pharmaceuticals(DSE: SQPH); Sri Lankan banks Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (CSE: COMB / COMBt) and Hatton National Bank (CSE: HNB / HNBt); and other frontier market stocks:
- AFC Iraq Fund and AFC Asia Frontier Fund Outperform Global Markets – April 2024 Update – Returns in April were again broad-based, with gains led by Iraq, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Georgia. Negative performance contributors during the month were Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
- 🇻🇳 AFC Vietnam Fund’s April newsletter mentioned or discussed several Vietnamese stocks plus discussed the strong USD, the VN-Index, the anti-corruption campaign and market rumours, and the export and consumer sectors.
- 🇺🇿 AFC Uzbekistan Fund’s April newsletter gave a capital markets update that noted how the Tashkent Stock Exchange is a bit of a “walled garden” suffering from next to no international connectivity; but once this bottleneck is resolved via approved legislation, they anticipate this will be the catalyst for the next re-rating. The earnings of Qizilqum Cement (TSE: QZSM), the country’s second-largest cement producer, and the The Uzbek Commodity Exchange (TSE: URTS) were also briefly discussed.
- 🇺🇿 Pyramids & Pagodas also has this interesting podcast albeit the AFC fund is probably the only way professional investors can access the Uzbek market right now: Ep 7. Uzbekistan – Emerging from the shadows of obscurity and onto investors’ radars (1:02:25 Hours) – Scott Osheroff, CIO of the Asia Frontier Capital AFC Uzbekistan Fund tells us of a booming stock market, bold reforms, and easy access for retail investors.
- 🇵🇰 AFC’s Ruchir Desai did this webinar with KTrade Securities: Frontier Market Investment Landscape and Pakistan Outlook | Webinar | with Ruchir Desai (52:07 Minutes)
- 🇮🇶 AFC Iraq Fund’s April newsletter (economic and portfolio) noted how Iraq’s stock market rallied during the recent Israel-Iran spat.

abrdn has the following general emerging market pieces:
- This piece is short: Emerging market debt April 2024 review and outlook – Our summary of developments in emerging market debt in April 2024 and outlook.
- 🚨🇿🇦 South Africa: an era-defining election – We try to make sense of the South African election, including what a potential coalition government might mean for investors.
- 🚨📈 This piece discussed Kazakh fintech-super app KASPI (LON: 80TE / FRA: KKS), Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd. (KRX: 009540), and Indian finance stock Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd (NSE: BAJAJHLDNG / BOM: 500490): Why it pays dividends to invest in emerging markets – Since 2000, EM dividends have grown twice as fast as those in the rest of the world. We look at some of the companies leading the charge.
The following Asia focused funds have new factsheets, commentaries, research pieces, podcasts or webinars that would interest investors in Asia:

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