Buyers tip giant EM funds to reopen as market falls drive down AUM

Fund buyers have flagged the possibility of the country's largest emerging market equity funds reopening after outflows and market falls prompted a sharp drop in assets.

Aberdeen’s Emerging Markets equity franchise and First State Global Emerging Markets Leaders both effectively soft-closed to new investment last year when the two asset managers introduced initial charges of 2% and 4% respectively. Since then, however, the emerging market sell-off which first began last summer has accelerated, most notably at the start of 2014. Assets in the offshore Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets Equity fund, for example, peaked at $16.7bn (£10.1bn) when it soft-closed in February last year, according to FE data. Its asset base had subsequently fallen to $10.5bn...