New York–based Lenox Advisors is increasingly optimistic about investing in emerging markets, particularly emerging-market equities, seeing room for growth as valuations improve. “The primary way to get exposure is in some sort of diversified fund that has exposure to China, India and Brazil,” says CIO David Carter.
The $1.2 billion wealth management firm prefers getting this exposure through an actively managed mutual fund. Because emerging markets are relatively less efficient than developed markets, managers have a better chance of picking stocks that outperform the index. “Many of these emerging nations have very strong fiscal balances and managed through the Great Recession remarkably well,” Carter says. Lenox will also make opportunistic country-specific bets.
Nations bordering China, such as Vietnam, benefit as wages and other expenses rise in China, notes Carter. As China’s currency may appreciate, other countries may become the new low-cost producers.
— Private Asset Management
