Jorry Nøddekær, Lead Fund Manager, Polar Capital Emerging Market Stars Fund
What are you trying to achieve for investors and what role could your Fund play in an investor's portfolio? How do you structure this Fund?
The Fund's investment objective is to achieve long-term capital growth and seeks to achieve this by investing in a broad range of shares from companies in emerging markets or which generate a significant amount of their business from emerging markets, with a bias towards growth-at-reasonable-prices and quality.
The investment approach focuses primarily on fundamental, bottom-up stock selection with top-down macroeconomic research and analysis.
We seek to identify growth opportunities by looking at global growth expectations, demand and supply drivers, macroeconomic trends and factors impacting company valuations to establish a dynamic understanding of the economic backdrop to the investment universe.
Research efforts are directed towards detailed analysis of a company's specific strategic position and opportunities within its industry to establish its potential for future Economic Value Add (EVA). We look to identify companies with the capability of generating a high and growing level of EVA over the medium to long term. Having established a company's opportunity for growth, its competitive position and its potential to create EVA, we use a proprietary valuation model to identify its expected level of future EVA creation and market value in relation to its current price. The process incorporates analysis of ESG policies, performance, practices and impacts.
What are the big opportunities and risks for your strategy in 2025?
Many of our portfolio holdings are trading at highly attractive valuations, offering compelling entry points. Recent market volatility has created opportunities to acquire quality companies at discounted prices. After extensive travel and meetings with nearly all our holdings in H1, we are confident they are competitively positioned and undervalued.
While macroeconomic risks from a potential trade war cannot be ignored, we believe much is already priced in, as the Trump 2.0 trade has been unfolding since October last year. We stick with the view that Trump will be forced to cut deals and tariff levels will end up way below where they are currently.
We are increasingly witnessing the evolution of de-dollarization. The long-standing US fiat monetary system is facing growing scrutiny, posing potential risks to US asset prices.
We strongly believe in our ‘New Multipolar World' evolution and see Asia as potentially the biggest winner. In many ways, what Trump is doing now is simply fast-tracking this development.
We are also beginning to see the early formation of an informal monetary framework in Asia. Our earlier view that the People's Bank of China (PBoC) aspires to be ‘the Bundesbank for the Global South/Asia' is starting to take shape. If the yen strengthens further, the PBoC may feel increasingly confident in assuming that role, potentially leading to lower real rates and supporting the next major investment cycle in Asia. Asia holds a savings surplus, manufacturing capacity and future consumer base, positioning the region strongly for the next global investment cycle.
Can you identify a couple of key investment opportunities you are playing at the moment in the portfolio? This could be at a stock, sector or thematic level.
China's DeepSeek moment marked a major inflection point, showing it would be difficult to halt China's technological evolution. It also reignited confidence among technology entrepreneurs, encouraging a more aggressive push forward. Importantly, President Xi capitalised on this, convening a summit with leading technology entrepreneurs in February – featuring the now-famous handshake between Xi and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. In our view, this marked the clear turning point where China's stance toward its technology and internet industries shifted from severe repression to active support. Politics had initially thwarted China's technology case, with the last-minute cancellation of Ant Financial's IPO, but we now see politics playing a key role in restoring China's standing – moving it from considered uninvestable to being a key part of the Asian investment universe.
Despite year-to-date performance and being relatively expensive, we believe India still has an upcoming investment cycle, driven by an inflection point in discretionary consumption. The growing middle class presents attractive opportunities in real estate, retail and travel.
Despite tariff headlines exaggerating volatility in markets like Taiwan and South Korea, the underlying fundamentals of companies there remain strong. We have added to the portfolio where we find companies well-positioned for significant growth at an attractive valuation.
Polar Capital Emerging Markets & Asia Team - 27 May 2025
Risks
• Capital is at risk and there is no guarantee the Fund will achieve its objective. Investors should make sure their attitude towards risk is aligned with the risk profile of the Fund before investing.
• Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance. The value of investments may go down as well as up and you might get back less than you originally invested as there is no guarantee in place.
• The value of a fund's assets may be affected by uncertainties such as international political developments, market sentiment, economic conditions, changes in government policies, restrictions on foreign investment and currency repatriation, currency fluctuations and other developments in the laws and regulations of countries in which investment may be made. Please see the Fund's Prospectus for details of all risks.
· The Fund invests in the shares of companies and share prices can rise or fall due to several factors affecting global stock markets.
· The Fund uses derivatives which carry the risk of reduced liquidity, substantial loss and increased volatility in adverse market conditions, such as failure amongst market participants.
· The Fund invests in assets denominated in currencies other than the Fund's base currency. Changes in exchange rates may have a negative impact on the Fund's investments. If the share class currency is different from the currency of the country in which you reside, exchange rate fluctuations may affect your returns when converted into your local currency.
· The Fund invests in emerging markets where there is a greater risk of volatility due to political and economic uncertainties, restrictions on foreign investment, currency repatriation and currency fluctuations. Developing markets are typically less liquid which may result in large price movements to the Fund.
Important Information
This is a marketing communication and does not constitute a solicitation or offer to any person to buy or sell any related securities or financial instruments. Any opinions expressed may change. This document does not contain information material to the investment objectives or financial needs of the recipient. This document is not advice on legal, taxation or investment matters. Tax treatment depends on personal circumstances. Investors must rely on their own examination of the fund or seek advice. Investment may be restricted in other countries and as such, any individual who receives this document must make themselves aware of their respective jurisdiction and observe any restrictions.
A decision may be taken at any time to terminate the marketing of the Fund in any EEA Member State in which it is currently marketed. Shareholders in the affected EEA Member State will be given notification of any decision and provided the opportunity to redeem their interests in the Fund, free of any charges or deductions, for at least 30 working days from the date of the notification.
Investment in the Fund concerns shares of the Fund and not in the underlying investments of the Fund. Further information about fund characteristics and any associated risks can be found in the Fund's Key Information Document or Key Investor Information Document ("KID" or "KIID"), the Prospectus (and relevant Fund Supplement), the Articles of Association and the Annual and Semi-Annual Reports. Please refer to these documents before making any final investment decisions. These documents are available free of charge at Polar Capital Funds plc, Georges Court, 54-62 Townsend Street, Dublin 2, Ireland, via email by contacting [email protected] or at www.polarcapital.co.uk. The KID is available in the languages of all EEA member states in which the Fund is registered for sale; the Prospectus, Annual and Semi-Annual Reports and KIID are available in English.
The Fund promotes, among other characteristics, environmental or social characteristics and is classified as an Article 8 fund under the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). For more information, please see the Prospectus and relevant Fund Supplement.
ESG and sustainability characteristics are further detailed on the investment manager's website: (https://www.polarcapital.co.uk/#/professional/ESG-and-Sustainability/Responsible-Investing/)
A summary of investor rights associated with investment in the Fundcan be found here.
This document is provided and approved by both Polar Capital LLP and Polar Capital (Europe) SAS.
Polar Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") in the United Kingdom, and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in the United States. Polar Capital LLP's registered address is 16 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5JD, United Kingdom.
Polar Capital (Europe) SAS is authorised and regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in France. Polar Capital (Europe) SAS's registered address is 18 Rue de Londres, Paris 75009, France.
Polar Capital LLP is a registered Investment Advisor with the SEC. Polar Capital LLP is the investment manager and promoter of Polar Capital Funds plc – an open-ended investment company with variable capital and with segregated liability between its sub-funds – incorporated in Ireland, authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and recognised by the FCA. Bridge Fund Management Limited acts as management company and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered Address: Percy Exchange, 8/34 Percy Place, Dublin 4, Ireland
Benchmark The Fund is actively managed and uses the MSCI Emerging Market Net Total Return Index as a performance target. and to calculate the performance fee. The benchmark has been chosen as it is generally considered to be representative of the investment universe in which the Fund invests. The performance of the Fund is likely to differ from the performance of the benchmark as the holdings, weightings and asset allocation will be different. Investors should carefully consider these differences when making comparisons. Further information about the benchmark can be found here. The benchmark is provided by an administrator on the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) register of benchmarks which includes details of all authorised, registered, recognised, and endorsed EU and third country benchmark administrators together with their national competent authorities.
Third-party Data Some information contained herein has been obtained from third party sources and has not been independently verified by Polar Capital. Neither Polar Capital nor any other party involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating the data makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such data (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any data contained herein.
Country Specific Disclaimers Please be aware that not every share class of every fund is available in all jurisdictions. When considering an investment into the Fund, you should make yourself aware of the relevant financial, legal and tax implications. Neither Polar Capital LLP nor Polar Capital Funds plc shall be liable for, and accept no liability for, the use or misuse of this document.
The Netherlands This document is for professional client use only in the Netherlands and it is intended that the Fund will only be marketed to professional clients in the Netherlands. Polar Capital Funds plc is authorized to offer shares in the Fund to investors in the Netherlands on a cross border basis and is registered as such in the register kept by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets ("AFM") www.afm.nl.
Spain The Fund is registered in Spain with the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores ("CNMV") under registration number 771.
Switzerland The principal Fund documents (the Prospectus, Fund Supplement, KIDs, Memorandum and Articles of Association, Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report) of the Fund may be obtained free of charge from the Swiss Representative. The Swiss representative is FundRock Switzerland SA, Route de Cité-Ouest 2, 1196 Gland, Switzerland. The paying agent in Switzerland is Banque Cantonale de Genève, 17 quai de I'Ile, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland.
Austria / Belgium / Denmark (professional only) / Finland / France / Germany /Gibraltar / Guernsey / Ireland / Italy / Liechtenstein / Luxembourg / Netherlands / Norway / Portugal / Spain / Sweden / Switzerland and the United Kingdom The Fund is registered for sale to investors in these countries.
