Union Bancaire Privée (“UBP”) has announced the launch of a new global emerging equities fund – UBAM - Global Emerging Equity – to provide investors with a truly global exposure to emerging equities.
The fund will be managed from UBP’s London branch by a team of three experienced fund managers headed by Mathieu Nègre, Head of Global Emerging Equities, and will utilise a proprietary country allocation model to assess areas of opportunities and optimally manage risk exposures.
“Compared to the MSCI Emerging Markets index, our fund spreads its country risk exposure much more equally, enabling smaller countries to contribute more to its performance”, explains Mathieu Nègre. “The aim of this approach is primarily to reduce country risk, which is the main source of risk in an emerging market portfolio.”
With around 1000 stocks from 23 countries in the global emerging market universe, it is also imperative to accurately identify which stocks offer the best long term return potential. The UBAM – Global Emerging Equity fund will therefore employ a combined quantitative and qualitative approach to stock selection, with initial quantitative screening used to narrow the funds investable universe from over 1000 to 180 stocks. These securities will then be subject to extensive qualitative analysis, with the fund’s managers assessing each stock against a 29-point check list that considers a range of fundamental factors including corporate governance, business model and growth strategy.
As part of the portfolio construction process, the fund’s management team will also be able to draw on expertise from other areas of UBP’s investment capabilities, which includes local teams comprising more than 25 emerging market specialists in Zurich, London, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai.
Commenting on the launch of the UBAM – Global Emerging Equity fund, Mikael Lok, Co-CEO of UBP Asset Management, said:
“We are very pleased to announce the launch of the UBAM - Global Emerging Equity fund, which will complement our emerging markets product range and strengthen our investment capabilities within this asset class. We believe that emerging markets continue to offer superior growth potential due to their demographic advantage and convergence of their economies with developed markets. Cheaper currency and equity valuations as well as strong reform efforts in key markets are gradually laying the foundations for strong equity performance. We therefore think that the best way to participate in this growth is by investing in successful emerging market companies’ equities applying a disciplined investment process.”
The fund is registered in Belgium, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.