Global Emerging Markets Sustainability
The Global Emerging Markets Sustainability strategy invests in between 30-75 high-quality companies that are contributing to a more sustainable future.
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Our Global Emerging Market Sustainability strategy was launched in 2009 and invests in between 30 to 75 high-quality companies that are contributing to a more sustainable future. The strategy’s bottom-up approach allows us to find only the very best businesses from an investable universe of some 65,000 companies. We are looking for companies well positioned to contribute to long-term sustainable development; businesses with high quality management teams, franchises, and financials.
Strategy highlights: a focus on quality and sustainability
- Companies must contribute to sustainable development and make a net-positive impact to a more sustainable future. Portfolio Explorer >
- We invest in high-quality companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials. How we pick companies >
- We avoid companies linked to harmful activities and engage and vote for positive change. Our position on harmful products >
- Our approach is long-term, bottom-up, high conviction and benchmark agnostic
- We focus on capital preservation as well as capital growth – we define risk as the permanent loss of client capital
Latest insights
Strategy update: Q1 2023
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability strategy update: 1 January - 31 March 2023
This quarter was a comparatively active one for us. During this quarter, we exited three holdings and initiated two new positions in the strategy.
We sold out of a small holding in robotics company Estun Automation (China: Industrials). Nothing significant has changed in our view of the quality of the company. However, we felt that after some share-price strength, which has taken valuations towards extremes, the opportunities for attractive returns have diminished significantly and there are now more attractive alternatives available.
We also exited MediaTek (Taiwan: Information Technology), a Taiwanese chip designer with earnings primarily driven by smartphone demand in China. As consumer sentiment has returned with the re-opening of that country, the share price has performed well. We feel there are likely companies with better earnings-growth profiles within the semiconductor sector that we would rather own for the long term.
In particular, during the quarter we have initiated a position in German semiconductor supplier Infineon Technologies (Germany: Information Technology). Long held in our Worldwide strategy, the majority of the company’s sales are to emerging markets in Asia. Infineon specialises in chips that control power supply, with 2.5x the market share of the #2 competitor1. This gives the company great exposure to rapidly growing end markets, like renewable energy, smart grids and electric vehicles.
In making the switch from MediaTek to Infineon, we feel we have exchanged a company primarily exposed to more saturated consumer technology to one primarily exposed to more quickly growing industrial end markets. Given extremely similar valuations, and that it seems more likely that Infineon can deliver sustained earnings growth over the long term, this felt like an upgrade in likely future returns.
In the case of Natura (Brazil: Consumer Staples), we felt that the investment case had changed considerably from our initial thesis. During the last short while, a difficult economic environment has exposed some weaknesses in the franchise, the balance sheet has deteriorated, and the company has changed senior leadership. Exiting a position and realising a significant loss is never a pleasant experience, but it is usually best to avoid sunk-cost fallacy and anchoring biases, and to focus on quality. After much discussion, we decided the company faces a tough road ahead and that we have better ideas at attractive prices today.
One such opportunity is Zhejiang Supor (China: Consumer Discretionary), a leading manufacturer of cookware and small domestic appliances in China. Their products range from rice and pressure cookers to kettles and blenders – necessary devices where a reliable brand matters. Supor is controlled by SEB, the French-listed company owned by the founding Lescure family. SEB has steadily demonstrated a long-term approach to brand building and product safety that flows through to the manner in which Supor is managed. The small-ticket nature of these purchases, alongside the fact that cookware and kitchen appliances are essential but not political products, indicates to us that they are likely to continue to enjoy consistent, predictable growth in the years ahead.
1 Company Q1 2023 FY update
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
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Select Strategy update and/or Proxy voting to produce a report. You can then download a copy of the report by clicking on the button.
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Strategy update: Q4 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability strategy update: 1 October - 31 December 2022
Over the course of this quarter, we exited four positions in the strategy where there was waning conviction in the quality of franchise.
These positions were Info Edge (India: Communication Services), Naver (South Korea: Communication Services), Nippon Paint (Japan: Materials) and AK Medical (China: Health Care). Full valuations at Info Edge and Naver, coupled with franchises facing increased challenges around competition and growth, led us to sell our holdings. We exited Nippon Paint due to rising concerns about the quality of management and financials in a cyclical business; and a small position in AK Medical, a healthcare company facing increased regulatory and pricing risks in China.
We used the proceeds from these sales to initiate two new positions over the past months. The first new position was in an Indian financial company, a leading provider of mortgages in rural India. The stewards of the business have focused on creating a conservative credit culture and passing on decreases in their costs to those they finance, building a resilient, long-term lending business. With mortgage penetration in rural India still hovering around 1% and low leverage on the balance sheet, the business has a long runway for steady growth without taking on unnecessary, short-term risks.
The second new position in the strategy is Advanced Energy Solution (AES) (Taiwan: Industrials), a leading supplier of battery packs to e-bikes and uninterrupted power-supply solutions. The business was spun out of Simplo, a company that has a history in making battery packs for consumer electronics. The safety, durability and customisation required in batteries for both e-bikes and servers has led to AES building a more profitable business model compared to battery pack providers in the past. The managers here are also working to build a niche in electric vehicles, providing another leg for long-term growth with a solid balance sheet to support this journey forward.
Through the past quarter, we also continued building positions in some Chinese companies where valuations provided the opportunity. These include Kingmed Diagnostics Group (China: Health Care), China’s leading diagnostics test provider, Glodon (China: Information Technology), the leading building automation software provider, and Silergy Corp (China: Information Technology), the leading analog chip designer.
As ever, we do not have a crystal ball to predict broad, top-down macroeconomics. Our focus remains on finding high-quality stewards who can nurture franchises that are resilient through economic booms and busts, based on solid fundamentals and financial strength. We continue to believe that this is the best recipe for creating robust portfolios that deliver strong, absolute returns for clients over the long term.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Strategy update: Q3 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability strategy update: 1 July - 30 September 2022
Over the course of another turbulent quarter, our focus remained on bottom-up stock picking. We continue to believe that identifying competent stewards who manage growing, resilient franchises with defensive financial profiles continues to be the best route to delivering sound absolute returns over the long term.
As a result, we have initiated positions in two new companies in the portfolio. The first new addition is Komerční Banka (Czech Republic: Financials), a well-capitalised, conservatively-run Czech bank. With a solid deposit base and strong asset quality, Komerční had de-rated to close to one times book with an attractive dividend yield.
We also bought a small position in an Indian IT services and embedded software provider focused on the automotive sector. The two co-founders of the company remain in the position of Chair and CEO, and have consistently managed the business for the long term, building strong relationships with key automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) globally. They have recently taken a decision to shrink the business to a third of its original revenue base – a difficult decision in the short term, but one that ensures a focus on their core competence in auto engineering over the long term. To us, this is a great indicator of stewards who can resist short-term market pressures to build sound, sustainable franchises. The company’s focus is on software and services related to electric vehicles and automated driving systems, benefiting from a long runway for growth in the coming years.
During this quarter, we also trimmed positions in Info Edge (India: Communication Services) and Estun Automation (China: Industrials), where valuations were becoming increasingly full and could prove to be a headwind to long-term returns. Lastly, we exited one position in the strategy – Mahindra Logistics (India: Industrials) – as we struggled to build further conviction in the focus and evolution of the franchise.
In a scenario of increasing geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty, we continue to believe that bottom-up analysis, a focus on fundamental quality and sustainable growth tailwinds, is the best route to tapping into the opportunities and protecting against the risks of investing in emerging markets.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Strategy update: Q2 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability strategy update: 1 April - 30 June 2022
During the second quarter, markets were exceptionally volatile and weak, as investors began to price in the likelihood of sustained inflation in the developed world, higher interest rates and the potential for global recession.
In the past, such episodes have tended not to be pleasant experiences for emerging markets, and the first half of 2022 has been no exception.
At the time of writing, on a sector basis only utilities and financials have delivered a positive return year to date in emerging markets. Materials and energy have also held up relatively well, given rises in commodity prices. All told, beneficiaries of rising inflation and higher interest rates – banks, energy and commodity companies – have been comparatively strong.
We rarely hold companies in these sectors for clients because they seldom meet our quality and sustainability requirements. In contrast, sectors like healthcare, technology and consumer staples – where we do tend to find attractive ideas – have been weaker. Performance over the very short term has been commensurately weak.
In an environment such as this, we have continued to focus on bottom-up stock selection, focusing on identifying high-quality stewards managing franchises with growth tailwinds and resilient financials. Reflecting this, we have recently added four new companies into the portfolio.
We believe retailers Dino Polska (Poland) and Jerónimo Martins (Portugal) are likely to remain resilient in the current environment. Grocery stores tend to remain stable through periods of inflation, and both Dino Polska and Jerónimo Martins are very well stewarded by the founder and founding family respectively. Jerónimo for example is a 230 years old business, now represented by the fourth generation of the dos Santos family. Their consistent focus on high-quality, low-cost retail and long-term time horizons with regard to nurturing businesses in new geographies has served them well through the past decades.
Over the course of the past year, we re-initiated a position in Pigeon (Japan), a consumer goods franchise focused on high-quality products for infants and mothers. Stewarded by the founding Nakata family, Pigeon has consistently focused on building consumer trust and creating a brand around their reputation for quality. At reasonable valuations, we believe Pigeon has the ability to continue growing across geographies where they have been laying the foundations for long-term growth.
We also initiated a position in Banco Bradesco (Brazil). We have owned Bradesco on behalf of clients in the past and, over recent months, the Bank had de-rated to valuations around one times price to book with 7-8% dividend yields1 providing an attractive entry point. Bradesco remains one of the best banks in the country, well positioned to continue growing through increased penetration across Brazil and adapting to a more digital ecosystem.
We also added to a number of existing holdings which had suffered from more acute weakness, including Silergy Corp (Taiwan), Techtronic Industries (Hong Kong) and MercadoLibre (US listed, headquartered in Argentina). We remain convinced of the quality and attractive long-term growth prospects of these businesses, and so took the opportunity to purchase more shares at prices substantially below where they have traded lately.
We funded some of these purchases by reducing cash and trimming some companies which had held up relatively well, like Unicharm (Japan) and Mahindra & Mahindra (India). We also exited one small holding, Hualan Biological Engineering (China), in which we have found it difficult to build conviction in the ability of the company to mitigate growing competition from state-owned peers.
Going forward, it seems as though we are in a period of fairly unprecedented macroeconomic policy uncertainty. Monetary policy has shifted from ultra-loose to a rapid tightening with frantic speed, and may well overshoot, with accordantly dramatic impacts on equity prices in the short term. In such an environment, it seems less than fruitful to try to predict the near-term future direction of inflation or interest rates. Instead, we are focused on building portfolios full of resilient companies with long-term tailwinds which should benefit over the longer term from the opportunities in emerging markets.
1 Source: Bloomberg
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Proxy voting: Q1 2023
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability proxy voting: 1 January - 31 March 2023
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter, there were 97 resolutions from 14 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against three resolutions.
We voted against Amoy Diagnostics’ request to increase share capital and share count as we did not have sufficient information at the time of voting for the justification of these amendments to articles. (one resolution)
We voted against Banco Bradesco’s remuneration policy as we believe it lacks long-term alignment with company performance and market best practice. We also voted against the company’s request to recast votes for an amended slate of directors as we do not believe this is in shareholders’ interest. (two resolutions)
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Proxy voting: Q4 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability proxy voting: 1 October - 31 December 2022
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter there were 51 resolutions from 12 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against one resolution.
We voted against the election of a director to the supervisory board at Foshan Haitian Flavouring as we do not believe they are truly independent. (one resolution)
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Download a PDF copy
Select Strategy update and/or Proxy voting to produce a report. You can then download a copy of the report by clicking on the button.
You can build a bespoke report for all our stratagies on the full Quarterly update page.
Proxy voting: Q3 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability proxy voting: 1 July - 30 September 2022
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter there were 169 resolutions from 19 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against three resolutions.
We voted against the election of a director at Dabur as we do not believe they are truly independent. (one resolution)
We voted against Philippine Seven’s request for management to approve all other business matters before the annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders. We consider ourselves active shareholders and prefer to vote on such matters at the AGM. (one resolution)
We voted against the election of the chairman of the audit committee at Vitasoy as the committee met less than four times during the last fiscal year. (one resolution)
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Proxy voting: Q2 2022
Global Emerging Markets Sustainability proxy voting: 1 April - 30 June 2022
During the quarter, there were 438 resolutions from 39 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 18 and abstained on eight resolutions.
We voted against AK Medical Holdings’ request to repurchase issued shares, and issue shares without pre-emptive rights, as the share discount rate had not been disclosed. (two resolutions)
We voted against Amoy Diagnostics’ request to transfer product rights and equity to a subsidiary, and to amend authorised share capital, as we did not have sufficient information at the time of voting. (two resolutions)
We voted against the approval of an Employee Stock Purchase Plan at Glodon, as we believe one-year vesting periods are too short term and not in shareholders' interests. (three resolutions)
We voted against the appointment of the auditor and the election of two directors at Hualan Biological Engineering. At the time of voting the company had not disclosed a breakdown of the fees paid to its auditor, and we do not believe the directors are truly independent. (three resolutions)
We voted against Natura's request to adopt cumulative voting and to recast votes for an amended slate of directors. We do not believe these requests are in shareholders’ interests. Unfortunately, due to an operational voting error, we abstained from voting on the company’s remuneration policy and the election of a candidate to the supervisory council. We had intended to vote for the remuneration policy, but had flagged areas to follow up with the company on. Our voting intention was to abstain from voting on the establishment of a supervisory council and a separate election for board members. This error did not have a material impact on the results of the meeting. (two resolutions against, two resolutions abstained)
We abstained from voting on Quálitas’ request to grant powers to an undisclosed number of managers, as we did not have sufficient information at the time of voting. (one resolution)
We abstained from voting on the election of Raia Drogasil’s supervisory council as we were happy to support the candidates presented by the minority and preferred shareholders. As a result of this vote, we voted against the recasting of votes for the amended supervisory council slate. (one resolution against, one resolution abstained)
We voted against Totvs’ request to adopt cumulative voting and for permission to re-consider voting instructions should the meeting be held on second call. We do not believe these requests are in shareholders’ interests. We abstained from voting on the company’s request to establish a supervisory council as we did not have sufficient information to know who we would be voting for. (two resolutions against, two resolutions abstained)
We voted against WEG’s request to adopt cumulative voting and to recast votes for the amended board and supervisory council slate. We do not believe these requests are in shareholders’ interests. We abstained from voting for a minority candidate as we prefer to support the board. (three resolutions against, two resolutions abstained)
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
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For illustrative purposes only. Reference to the names of example company names mentioned in this communication is merely for explaining the investment strategy and should not be construed as investment advice or investment recommendation of those companies. Companies mentioned herein may or may not form part of the holdings of Stewart Investors. Holdings are subject to change.
Certain statements, estimates, and projections in this document may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Stewart Investors’ current assumptions and beliefs, in light of currently available information, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual actions or results may differ materially from those discussed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. There is no certainty that current conditions will last, and Stewart Investors undertakes no obligation to correct, revise or update information herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. Securities mentioned are all holdings which have/have had a portfolio weight over 0.5% from representative Asia Pacific Sustainability Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan Sustainability Strategy, Asia Pacific Leaders Sustainability Strategy, European Sustainability Strategy, European (ex UK) Sustainability Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Leaders Sustainability Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Strategy, Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Strategy, Worldwide Sustainability Strategy and Worldwide Leaders Sustainability Strategy accounts up to 31 March 2023.
The Stewart Investors supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full list of SDGs can be found on the United Nations website.
Source for Climate Solutions and impact figures: © 2014–2023 Project Drawdown (drawdown.org). Source for Human Development Pillars: Stewart Investors investment team.
Source for climate solutions and human development analysis and mapping: Stewart Investors investment team. Contributions are defined by the team as demonstrable contributions to any solution, either direct (directly attributable to products, services or practices provided by that company), or enabling (supported or made possible by products or technologies provided by that company).
Investment terms
View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this document.
Fund data and information
Key documents and links
Fund prices and details
Click on the links below to access key facts, literature, performance and portfolio information for the funds and share classes available in this jurisdiction:
Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Fund
| Fund name | Fund type | Currency | Price | Daily change | Price date | Factsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Class I (Acc) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 8.95 | 0.79 | 26 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Class I (Acc) | Irish UCITs | USD | 10.17 | 0.82 | 26 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Class VI (Acc) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 2.29 | 0.79 | 26 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Class VI (Dist) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 11.08 | 0.79 | 26 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Class VI (Acc) | Irish UCITs | USD | 11.17 | 0.82 | 26 May 2023 |
Share prices are calculated on a forward pricing basis which means that the price at which you buy or sell will be calculated at the next valuation point after the transaction is placed. Where a fund price is marked XD, this means that the fund is currently Ex-Dividend. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of shares and income from them may go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. Please note that the yield quoted above is not the historic yield. It is considered that the yield quoted represents the current position of investments, income and expenses in the fund and that this is a more accurate figure. Investors may be subject to tax on their distribution. The yield is not guaranteed or representative of future yields. You should be aware that any currency movements could affect the value of your investment. The Funds within the First Sentier Investors Global Umbrella Fund plc (Irish VCC) are denominated in USD or EUR.
