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Why does this CEF deserve 4 stars from M*? (IF link in post.)
Why not? You can argue about classification but in its classification it was in top 15% in 1 year, top 1% in 3 years, top 15% in 5 years and top 1% in 10 years. It is all about how it performed in the past in its classification.
It's done quite well over time. Not quite as well this year, but when you have something so specific like Indonesia, it's to be expected on occasion. That's why I'm still kind of "eh" on specific country ETFs and I'd still rather be diversified in terms of Asia and EM in general, whether it be stocks (Jardine Matheson), etfs (DEM) or mutual funds (Matthews, Janus Overseas although the latter is global in nature), etc.
I was going to write that it got 4 stars because there aren't enough funds in its category for it to get 5 stars. But it turns out that there are 14 closed end Pacific ex-Japan funds rated by M*, and 10% are supposed to get five stars (and 10% one star). There is in fact a single one star fund (Korea Fund, KF). So my question is why isn't this fund (or one of the other 4 * funds) ranked five stars?
Good question, msf. I have tracked this CEF for many years, actually. And didn't Indonesia's sovereign debt get a recent upgrade from Fitch or one of the others? Not that it has anything to do with IF, specifically. But such an upgrade makes for a bit more attractive macro environment. And for years, back on either side of the turn of the 21st century, there had been a lot of political turmoil. Wish I had the $$$$$ to buy IF in 2001 when the NAV was less than $2.00.
I own the top holding (Astra International) via Jardine Matheson (Astra is a subsidiary), but the country appears to have a positive outlook overall. There's also a number of country-specific spin-offs of larger companies (Merck Indonesia, Unilever Indonesia, a few others.)
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