Reynolds also point to the electric vehicle (EV) market as EV battery demand was expected to grow 10-fold over the next 10 years, and the majority of that growing demand was currently being met by Asian producers, including South Korea’s LG Chem and China’s CATL.
“Emerging markets provide access to young and growing populations and tap into some really important consumption themes, as well as themes that are driven by urbanisation and digitisation. Our fund provides access to highly profitable companies that are capable of delivering higher levels of growth,” Reynolds added.
The Legg Mason Martin Currie Emerging Markets Fund, which was launched in 2011, since inception produced an average return of 10.2% a year (net of fees), compared with average 9% annual growth of the benchmark over that period, the firm said.
“China equity funds recorded their 30th consecutive retail inflow despite last week’s institutional exodus. Institutional investors were net redeemers for the second straight week as they looked to sidestep any fallout from official efforts to keep the COVID-19 pandemic contained going into the Chinese New Year, usually a period when millions of people travel within the country,” EPFR said.
EPFR found that Israel’s aggressive vaccination rollout program and its reputation in the cybersecurity space attracted investors looking at Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets and flows into Israel equity funds were the largest since Q2 of 2008.