Dear friends,
We have a conference call with Andrew Foster this Thursday evening, April 16, from 7:00 - 8:00 Eastern. Andrew manages SFGIX/SIGIX, which qualifies as a five-star fund under Morningstar's system and a Great Owl under our most risk-conscious one. Only 10 of 180 EM stock funds hold that distinction; of those, Seafarer has the distinction of being no-load, open to retail investors, and low cost (I think it has the lowest e.r. of the retail EM Owls).
The fund is up 13% YTD, 10% annually over the past three years, top 3% of its peer group. Andrew is one of the best communicators and best stewards around.
You'd be more than welcome to
join us for hear from, and chat with, Andrew on Thursday. Failing that, I'd be delighted to share any questions you might have with Andrew and then I'll report back his responses in a "highlights" note here on the board.
As always, it's free and it's just a phone call so you can join in from pretty much anywhere.
Back to commenting on drafts of my students' papers,
David
Comments
Would enjoy a hearing Mr. Foster's philosophy on dividends...if and how does it factor in his portfolio construction.
And, perhaps, a little on how he manages capital gains.
Looking forward to the call, as always.
c
Edit/Add: How thoughtless of me... thanks to David, also, big-time!
http://www.seafarerfunds.com/ask-seafarer/#how-is-the-fund-different
The Fund has a broad geographical mandate, rather than an arbitrary one prescribed by an index; it spans markets that are variously categorized as “frontier” and “emerging.” The Fund can also invest in developed countries that have significant economic and financial linkages to developing countries.
and also:
http://www.seafarerfunds.com/ask-seafarer/#what-about-the-funds-geographical-exposure
and one more from their website:
Geographic Focus
Developing countries including, but not limited to:
Brazil
Chile
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Egypt
Greece
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Mexico
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Qatar
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam
Selected developed countries with significant economic and financial linkages to developing countries, including:
Australia
Hong Kong
Ireland
Israel
Japan
New Zealand
Singapore
United Kingdom
Thanks for asking and for setting up the call, David.
Cheers, AJ
Where do you plan to go for your next Field Notes trip?
Would you consider adding a retail+ share class with a min of $50k and an e.r. in between your retail and institutional?
At the start of the fund, there was a monthly commentary. Lately, this hasn't been the case (zero market commentaries in 2013 and one in 2014). What's the plan going forward? Will the quarterly portfolio review replace this?
Could you please provide some context for the holdings that are showing a negative EPS growth for this year? Looks like some financials, REITs, and a healthcare stock.
Nothing like it nowhere...
I remember when it was $25 a month at AC.
David
Or is it because he is thinking of starting another fund? I wouldn't want him to, but may be he is and that's where he is dedicating more capital.
Also he clarified it is Emerging Markets Growth and Income. Not International Growth and Income. So it would serve investors better word Overseas in the name was replaced with word Emerging.
I don't know the answer to the first. I do know that there have been managers who put every penny they have in their firm and in their funds at start-up to help get the fund to a viable level. As the years pass and things stabilize, they try to de-lever a bit, set up a 529 for the kids, rebuild their personal emergency account, buy shares of Etsy and so on. That causes them to sell shares of the fund, not from a lack of conviction but from competing obligations. That's sometimes misread, especially in the world of "press 'send' first, get the facts later," so they create a "that's something we don't talk about" policy.
Again, I don't know if that's the case here. Given Andrew's profound and ongoing commitment to the fund and his shareholders, though, I suspect something like it is the case.
As to the second, you always want to be careful of running afoul of the SEC's name rule. If you put the name of a distinct asset class in the name of your fund (David's Fund of Bankrupt Corporations), then you need to keep 80% of your assets there. Given the fluidity about what qualifies as an emerging market and the opportunity for gaining EM exposure through, say, investments in Irish companies, "overseas" in the name and "diversified global emerging markets" in the explanation might trigger far fewer headaches.
For what that's worth,
David
David