JO Hambro Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund

If you’re looking for some of the world’s most innovative and fastest growing companies, look no further than emerging markets. What we are witnessing today are countries in these parts of the world experiencing a process of economic catch-up to the more advanced economies. It’s a long-term story, and one that has significant potential. But not all countries are the same. So, it can be important to choose a fund that places an emphasis on which countries offer the most interesting investment potential. And the JO Hambro Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund is one such fund.

First, find the right countries

The JO Hambro Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund invests in companies that are either listed in emerging markets or exercise the major part of their activities in emerging markets. What makes this fund different to the majority of emerging market funds is that the team places great emphasis on country selection, which they believe is a major driver of performance. The team at JO Hambro appreciate that each country has very different economic, political, and social conditions from every other, and that it’s important to understand these before investing in companies in those countries.

Then, choose the companies

Once the team have taken a view on each country, positive or negative, they then look to find suitable companies to invest in within each of those regions. The aim is to identify a group of companies that are set to benefit from the long-term growth in each of their preferred countries. This means that the types of companies the team invests in in India will be quite different to the companies from Taiwan they invest in, because the economy in each country is very different.

Long term

This ‘country first’ approach of managing the fund, which involves taking a view on each country, makes this fund different to other such funds. We believe it gives JO Hambro a differentiating advantage. But it’s important to remind ourselves that investing is a long-term story, and investing in emerging markets is the ultimate in long-term investing. Markets can be volatile in the short term and investors need to buckle up for far longer.

If you’re looking to expand your investment horizon, this could be a fund worth looking at. In addition to the JO Hambro Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund, there are more funds on the Barclays Funds List, including one other actively managed fund that focuses on emerging markets and a further four active funds that invest solely within Asia. Find out more information on these funds.

Correct at the time of publishing.

To diversify your investment, you may like to consider our own Barclays Ready-made Investments (RMI). The RMI are just one example of a range of diversified funds which allow you to select the level of risk you are most comfortable with. These Barclays multi-asset funds invest in passive funds across a range of asset classes and regions, offering a globally diversified solution for investors. Ready-made Investments are not the only funds that we offer and they won’t be appropriate for everyone.

Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

We don’t offer personal investment advice so if you’re unsure you should seek that independently.

Funds are designed for the long term so you should only consider them if you can stay invested for at least five years.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ.

Read the Assessment of Value report [PDF, 3.2MB] for funds run by Barclays.