Retire Rich

By Lee Barney, MME Blog

October 15, 2007

Intrepid Fund Managers Seek Truly New Frontiers'

It isn't often that mutual fund firms launch remarkable, truly unique new products. Certainly, exchange-traded, lifecycle, 130/30 and emerging-market funds have been among the most significant and popular offerings in recent years.

Earlier this month, Fidelity Investments may have invented yet another new iteration of a mutual fund with its innovative suite of target-date retirement income funds that offer a simplified, one-stop solution many retirees and financial advisers might readily embrace.

The trouble is, once one fund company comes out with a breakthrough, compelling new type of mutual fund, it's inevitably dwarfed by a stampede of imitators-dulling the innovator's original appeal and resulting in a crowded field of indistinguishable commodities.

Now, however, some intrepid emerging-market funds are venturing into a fascinating new territory few others are likely to attempt: investing in such exotic locales as Latvia, Bangladesh, Namibia and the Ivory Coast.

The venture is noteworthy, given that the stock exchanges in some of these places trade fewer than 10 listings. How portfolio managers of these so-called "frontier funds" can reliably research their investments and fairly value them is a mystery, so much so that in next week's issue, we will explore how they accomplish this task in greater detail.

As to why portfolio managers are assuming the additional risks inherent with frontiers that go way beyond those of emerging-markets-including a lack of liquidity, transparency and strong regulations, not to mention wild fluctuations in exchange rates, inflation and the risk of political and social turmoil-some managers say it's simply because the emerging-markets space has become too congested.

"A lot of hidden gems are no longer hidden," Hugh Hunter, head of global emerging markets at WestLB Mellon Asset Management, told The Washington Post. "Clearly, frontier markets are the next tier. We have no option but to go forward in this area."

Others maintain that third-world governments now have the capital to spend heavily on infrastructure.

It's worth taking a look, given that the S&P/IFC Global Frontier Markets Index of 22 frontier nations is up 49% in the 12 months ended Aug. 21, while the S&P 500 is up 16%.

(c) 2007 Money Management Executive and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.mmexecutive.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Recent Posts

Tear a Page From the AARP/Today Show Playbook

America has yet to witness the tremendous societal transformation retiring Boomers will have, as the oldest is a mere 64 and the youngest, 46. But we are beginning to see signs of the tsunami-sized impact this army of 77 million will have on the workplace, the economy, healthcare and even the arts and entertainment. AARP has just formed a timely, unbelievably beneficial partnership with NBC's "Today Show." Beginning tomorrow, March 9, the No. 1 morning news program that reaches 5.9 million viewers a day, is bringing back former Emmy Award-winning host Jane Pauley to produce and report a monthly segment called, "Your Life Calling."

It's About Time for an About-Face for Funds

It's about time mutual fund product developers thought out of the Morningstar investment-style box to give portfolio managers the ability to do an about-face.

One of the most critical discussions to come out of the financial crisis has been the questioning of the rigid investment mandates of mutual funds and the soundness of 60-year-old modern portfolio theory-since correlations between investment classes are obviously becoming more intricately woven in the global economy of the 21st century and the markets are prone to increasingly higher volatility and risk.

Extreme Makeover: 401(k) Edition

Investors are about to test drive 401(k) plans with a 21st Century whole new look and feel. The Department of Labor is promising streamlined rules for 401(k) advice that plan sponsors may actually use. The government is looking into the possibility of offering annuities or other lifetime income options in defined contribution plans.

C- Grade is Nothing To Crow About for 401(k)s

The mutual fund industry should proudly celebrate Americans' 73% approval rating for 401(k)s, according to an Investment Company Institute report, "Enduring Confidence in the 401(k) System." In our book, a 73% rating equals a C- grade that, in fact, should be a wake-up call for the industry to do a far better job of equipping Americans to adequately prepare for a decent and healthy life in their old age.

Index of Posts

1 Comments

Having lived and worked in many foreign emerging markets I share your concerns. There is no market with more transparency than ours here in the US and we have issues that cannot be resolved even with the rule of law and years and years of positive results; yes, even now money flows into the market primarily because the vast majority believe the playing field is at least mostly fair and quantifiable ( within limits) we take our chances and hedge our bets.

I have been involved at the company level in the restructuring, buying and selling of companies in many of these markets. This hands on ganular exposure has given me first had experience in what is lacking and needed in these markets. It will take years for the mentality of these markets players to change and for a solid basis for trading public equities to become established in these markets on anything but the basis of what I call " local market arbitrage" which is similar to what we have seen in a lot of larger markets in the past as they emerged from Russian dominance or the socialist model which was pervasive in the mid 90's in many parts Eastern Europe. History should be a good teacher; yes we need to promote these markets and to help them grow. However, public market funds will not add value or expedite this change without the foundation being put in place first by those truely intreped pioneers who live and work in those markets and invest on a private basis as the first step in estatblishing a beach head from which to move forward. In some ways you can compare it to the function the VC's provide for new company start ups. It is hard and frustrating work and not a quick fix or solution for investors or for fund managers looking for a new pitch.

I would love to get involved with one of this funds and to find out what they are acutally doing in the way of diligence. Perhaps, I could help!

Posted by: ROCKY S | April 6, 2009 10:28 AM

Add Your Comments...

Already Registered?

If you have already registered to Money Management Executive, please use the form below to login. When completed you will immeditely be directed to post a comment.

Not Registered?

You must be registered to post a comment. Click here to register.