Management & Investment Process

Management

The investment team leverages high degrees of experience and knowledge within a disciplined investment process. Learn more about the Team.
  • Maria Negrete-Gruson, CFA
  • Portfolio Manager
  • 32Years Investment
    Experience

Investment Process

The investment team seeks to invest in companies that are uniquely positioned to benefit from the growth potential in emerging markets and that possess a sustainable global competitive advantage.

Sustainable Earnings

  • Financial analysis focuses on identifying historical drivers of sustainable ROE
  • Strategic analysis examines a company's competitive advantages

Sustainability Assessment

  • Evaluate sustainability risks, including ESG considerations, via incident-based data and empirical factors
  • Use a proprietary scoring system for incident-based and empirical results to help inform the team’s view of a company’s target price

Risk Analysis

  • Assess and incorporate company-specific risks into valuation analysis
  • Assess country-appropriate macroeconomic risks to which a company is exposed

Valuation

  • Determine risk-adjusted target price based on sustainable earnings estimates, sustainability assessment and risk analysis
  • Invest in companies that are undervalued relative to peers and historical, industry, country and regional valuations

In-depth Investment Process

 

Investment Results (% USD)

As of 29 February 2024 QTD YTD 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr Inception
Composite — Gross 0.99 0.99 12.49 -5.78 3.32 5.16 5.09
Composite — Net 0.85 0.85 11.55 -6.63 2.36 4.13 4.03
MSCI Emerging Markets Index -0.11 -0.11 8.73 -6.29 1.89 3.00 4.22
As of 31 December 2023 QTD YTD 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr Inception
Composite — Gross 8.31 18.30 18.30 -4.95 5.22 4.69 5.08
Composite — Net 8.08 17.31 17.31 -5.81 4.23 3.67 4.02
MSCI Emerging Markets Index 7.86 9.83 9.83 -5.08 3.68 2.66 4.27

Annual Returns (% USD)

Trailing 12 Months Ended 31 December 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Composite — Gross 22.03 23.06 -0.27 -27.21 18.30
Composite — Net 20.84 21.85 -1.27 -27.86 17.31

Calendar Year Returns (% USD)

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Composite — Gross 22.03 23.06 -0.27 -27.21 18.30
Composite — Net 20.84 21.85 -1.27 -27.86 17.31
MSCI Emerging Markets Index 18.42 18.31 -2.54 -20.09 9.83
Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. 

Past performance does not guarantee and is not a reliable indicator of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance shown. Composite performance has been presented in both gross and net of investment management fees. 

Investment Risk: Investments will rise and fall with market fluctuations and investor capital is at risk. Investors investing in investment vehicles denominated in non-local currency should be aware of the risk of currency exchange fluctuations that may cause a loss of principal. These risks, among others, are further described in the Important Disclosures section which should be read in conjunction with this material. 
Top 10 Holdings
(% of total portfolio as of 29 February 2024)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (Taiwan) 10.6
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (Korea) 6.9
ICICI Bank Ltd (India) 3.7
MediaTek Inc (Taiwan) 3.5
MercadoLibre Inc (Argentina) 3.4
E Ink Holdings Inc (Taiwan) 3.3
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (China) 3.0
Reliance Industries Ltd (India) 3.0
Estun Automation Co Ltd (China) 2.4
Vietnam Technological & Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Vietnam) 2.3
Total 42.1%
Portfolio Statistics
(as of 29 February 2024)
Median Market Cap (USD Billions) $9.4
Weighted Avg. Market Cap (USD Billions) $127.4
Weighted Harmonic Avg. P/E (FY1) 14.0X
Weighted Avg. LT EPS Growth Rate (3-5 Yr) 19.2%
Weighted Avg. ROE 16.6%
Number of Securities 58
Off-Benchmark Exposure 32.8%
Small-Cap Exposure 3.8%
Annual Turnover 22.1%
Cash (% of total portfolio) 4.3%
Region Allocation
(% of portfolio securities as of 29 February 2024)
Region Allocation chart
Emerging Asia 63.6
Latin America 20.4
Europe, Middle East and Africa 9.9
Developed Markets 6.0
Total 100.0%
Top 10 Countries
(% of portfolio securities as of 29 February 2024)
Taiwan 18.1
China 15.1
Korea 12.2
India 11.2
Brazil 6.9
Argentina 6.4
Netherlands 3.7
South Africa 3.3
Mexico 3.1
Greece 2.5
Sector Diversification
(% of portfolio securities as of 29 February 2024)
Consumer Goods 8.6
Extractives & Minerals Processing 9.3
Financials 19.9
Food & Beverage 1.8
Health Care 5.2
Infrastructure 3.3
Renewable Resources & Alternative Energy
Resource Transformation 8.0
Services 2.9
Technology & Communications 38.6
Transportation 2.4
Other
Total 100.0%
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  • Artisan Sustainable Emerging Markets Strategy Fourth Quarter 2022 Update
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Non-diversified portfolios may invest larger portions of assets in securities of a smaller number of issuers and performance of a single issuer may have greater impact to the portfolio's returns. International investments involve special risks, including currency fluctuation, lower liquidity, different accounting methods and economic and political systems, and higher transaction costs. These risks typically are greater in emerging and less developed markets, including frontier markets. Such risks include new and rapidly changing political and economic structures, which may cause instability; underdeveloped securities markets; and higher likelihood of high levels of inflation, deflation or currency devaluations. Securities of small- and medium-sized companies tend to have a shorter history of operations, be more volatile and less liquid and may have underperformed securities of large companies during some periods. The costs associated with an investment will impact your return over time. These risks, among others, are further described in Artisan Partners Form ADV, which is available upon request. 

Assets under management include approximately $78 million (reported on a one-month lag) for which Artisan Partners provides investment models to managed account sponsors.

Unless otherwise indicated, strategy characteristics relate to that of a representative account managed within the investment composite. It is intended to provide a general illustration of the investment strategy and considerations used by Artisan Partners in managing that strategy. Individual accounts managed to the strategy may differ, at times significantly, from the reference data shown due to varying account restrictions, fees and expenses, and longevity periods, among others. Where applicable, this information is supplemental to, and not to be construed with, a current or prospective client's investment account information.

Performance Source: Artisan Partners/MSCI. Net-of-fees composite returns were calculated using the highest model investment advisory fees applicable to portfolios within the composite. Fees may be higher for certain pooled vehicles and the composite may include accounts with performance-based fees. All performance results are net of commissions and transaction costs, and have been presented gross and net of investment advisory fees. Dividend income is recorded net of foreign withholding taxes on ex-dividend date or as soon after the ex-dividend date as the information becomes available to Artisan Partners. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Performance results for the Index include reinvested dividends and are presented net of foreign withholding taxes but, unlike the portfolio's returns, do not reflect the payment of sales commissions or other expenses incurred in the purchase or sale of the securities included in the indices. 

Sector Source: SASB. Sector exposure percentages reflect sector designations as currently classified by SICS. Country Classification Source: Artisan Partners. Portfolio country classifications are defined by the investment team and may differ substantially from MSCI classifications. Upon request, Artisan Partners will provide the portfolio’s country breakdown according to MSCI methodology. Data & Statistics Sources: Artisan Partners/MSCI. Annual turnover is reported as of the strategy’s fiscal year end. Artisan Partners may exclude outlier data and certain securities which lack applicable attributes, such as private securities when calculating portfolio statistics. If information is unavailable for a particular security Artisan may use data from a related security to calculate portfolio statistics. Securities of the same issuer are aggregated to determine a holding’s weight in the portfolio. Cash weighting includes cash and cash equivalents. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 

Median is the data's midpoint value. Market Cap (USD) is the aggregate value of all of a company's outstanding equity securities. Market Capitalization up to $2 billion. Weighted Average is the average of values weighted to the data set's composition. Weighted Harmonic Average is a calculation of weighted average commonly used for rates or ratios. Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) measures how expensive a stock is. Earnings figures used for FY1 and FY2 are estimates for the current and next unreported fiscal years. LT EPS Growth Rate is the average of the 3-5 year forecasted EPS growth rate of a company. Return on Equity (ROE) is a profitability ratio that measures the amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Annual Turnover is a measure of the trading activity in an investment portfolio—how often securities are bought and sold by a portfolio. 

MSCI Emerging Markets Index measures the performance of emerging markets. The index(es) are unmanaged; include net reinvested dividends; do not reflect fees or expenses; and are not available for direct investment. 

MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used to create indices or financial products. This report is not approved or produced by MSCI. 

The Sustainable Industry Classification System (SICS®) is the exclusive intellectual property of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). SICS is intended to group companies based on their shared sustainability-related risks and opportunities.