Products December 16, 2010

Ashmore to Bring Emerging Market Skills to U.S.

Ashmore Investment Management Limited., an investment manager specializing in emerging markets, says that regulatory approvals have been obtained to offer five mutual funds to the U.S. markets.
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According to the announcement, the funds will invest in Emerging Market debt, including sovereign debt, local currencies and corporate debt – and include what the firm claims is the first dedicated Emerging Market Corporate bond fund in the US, the Ashmore Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Fund.  According to the firm, the fund seeks to maximize total return by investing in debt instruments of Corporate issuers denominated in “hard” and local currencies.  

The other Ashmore Emerging Markets funds to be offered in the U.S. are: 

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  • Ashmore Emerging Markets Local Currency Fund: seeks to maximize total return by investing in instruments that provide investment exposure to local currencies of Emerging Market Countries. The fund is designed to allow U.S. investors to diversify away from the U.S. dollar into EM currencies. 
  • Ashmore Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund:  seeks to maximize total return by investing in debt instruments of Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign issuers of Emerging Market Countries that are denominated in the local currency of the issuer. The fund seeks to meet its objective by investing in bonds and other instruments denominated in Emerging Market local currencies, and is designed to allow U.S. investors to diversify away from the U.S. dollar into EM currencies. 
  • Ashmore Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Fund: seeks to maximize total return by investing in debt instruments of Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign issuers of Emerging Market Countries that are denominated in any “hard” currency. According to the firm, the fund currently expects to invest predominantly in bonds issued by Emerging Markets governments that are denominated in US dollars. 
  • Ashmore Emerging Markets Total Return Fund: seeks to maximize total return by investing in debt instruments of Sovereign, Quasi-Sovereign, and Corporate issuers, which may be denominated in any currency, including the local currency of the issuer. The fund has the ability to invest in bonds denominated in “hard” currencies (i.e. dollar, euro, etc) as well as EM local currencies. 

Ashmore has sponsored a suite of Emerging Market (EM) Debt Funds that allows investors to participate in the investment opportunities of emerging market economies, which include potential for currency appreciation and higher yields, relative to their developed market counterparts.  According to a press release, the funds “seek to benefit from Ashmore’s deep resources in sovereign and corporate credit analysis as well as the firm’s experience as one of the largest participants in the EM debt market”. 

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Ashmore’s Funds are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act Funds”) and will initially be available through an institutional share class.  Next year, subject to regulatory approvals, the Ashmore Funds also plan to offer additional retail share classes, which will be offered to investors through private banks and broker/dealers. Ashmore’s track record in emerging markets dates to 1992 when it launched its first pooled fund, according to the firm. 

Mark Coombs, Ashmore’s Chief Executive, said: “Ashmore has a diversified investor base by type and geography. Approximately 87% of Ashmore’s assets under management are made up of institutional investors including central banks, public and corporate pensions, and insurance companies.  The company has the strategic goal to further broaden its client base, in particular to grow the high-net-worth and retail business by partnering with financial intermediaries like private banks, broker/dealers and other high net worth and retail distributors.  Our entry in to the broader U.S. investment market furthers this goal.” 

Ashmore focuses on six investment themes being external debt, local currency, equity, corporate debt, special situations (including distressed debt and private equity), and real estate. Ashmore also manages a multi-strategy fund (not generally available to U.S. investors) and several structured products with investment banks. As of 30 September 2010, Ashmore managed approximately $41.6 billion across its six investment themes. 

Diversions December 16, 2010

Mentors Mean More to Men Than Women

Although having a mentor is beneficial for both genders, it is more beneficial for men, according to the latest study from Catalyst, a nonprofit research organization working on behalf of women in business.
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Catalyst surveyed 4,000 graduates from top MBA programs around the world in 2008; the participants had to have graduated between 1996 and 2007.The survey found that men with mentors are placed into higher-level jobs faster than women with mentors, and are compensated more as well.  The cause of this being that people tend to have mentors who are similar to themselves; therefore, men would be mentored by men, and women by women.  The male mentors are typically higher on the corporate ladder than female mentors, which mean they have more clout and influence when it comes to deciding who to promote.   

The study also found that men who had a mentor were 93% more likely to be placed at mid-manager level or above than men without a mentor.  Yet women with a mentor increased their odds of being placed at mid-manager or above by 56% more than women without a mentor.

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Compensation benefits were substantially different, according to the study:

  • Men who had a mentor received $9,260 more in their first post-MBA job than women with a mentor.
  • Men with a mentor were paid $6,726 more than men without a mentor.
  • Mentoring made less of an impact on women’s compensation. Women with a mentor were paid $661 more than women without a mentor.

The takeaway lesson Catalyst offers is that mentors must be both highly placed in the organization and actively advocating on their mentee’s behalf to have an impact.

 

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