SFGIX. Over one-fifth in Latin America, now. Also, over one-fifth in "Europe," which includes the Middle East. Still 56% in Asia.
PRLAX: over the past 5 years, still DOWN over -8%. If you bought into it in this past January, you're very happy!
ODPVY (Morningstar:) + 65% YTD.

@MikeW: " I'm currently pondering investing in Mathews Asia Strategic Income..." MAINX . I still track this one. I think that in spite of itself, it has shown itself to be a good choice. It's limited to Asia, though Morningstar puts it in their World Bond category. David Snowball has written quite positive things about it, too. M* reports 6.8% cash now. Corporates 52%, Gov't stuff is 19%. Convertibles = 19%. .....Foreign bonds are on a tear. My EM bonds are in PREMX, other foreign bonds in PRSNX. Much smaller domestic holding: DLFNX. The only thing I've done lately is to throw a tiny bit more into SFGIX. TRGRX (RE) is doing very well. All of this is wonderful, including DJIA and S & P new highs. But uncle Josh Brown warns:
http://thereformedbroker.com/2016/07/12/the-laws-of-capitalism-are-being-rewritten/

You have some nice performing funds there Crash.

@MikeW: " I'm currently pondering investing in Mathews Asia Strategic Income..." MAINX . I still track this one. I think that in spite of itself, it has shown itself to be a good choice. It's limited to Asia, though Morningstar puts it in their World Bond category. David Snowball has written quite positive things about it, too. M* reports 6.8% cash now. Corporates 52%, Gov't stuff is 19%. Convertibles = 19%. .....Foreign bonds are on a tear. My EM bonds are in PREMX, other foreign bonds in PRSNX. Much smaller domestic holding: DLFNX. The only thing I've done lately is to throw a tiny bit more into SFGIX. TRGRX (RE) is doing very well. All of this is wonderful, including DJIA and S & P new highs. But uncle Josh Brown warns:
http://thereformedbroker.com/2016/07/12/the-laws-of-capitalism-are-being-rewritten/

FYI: We lowered our ratings on funds from Franklin, Morgan Stanley, and Weitz, and initiated ratings on funds from Ariel and Seafarer.
Regards,
Ted
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=756265

Dear friends,
Charles and I will have dinner Monday with Andrew Foster, "the seasoned and skilled skipper" (saith Morningstar) of Seafarer Overseas Growth and Income. Paul Espinosa, who will lead Seafarer Overseas Value (SFVLX), won't be at the conference. I'll have a separate phone interview with Mr. Espinosa in the weeks ahead. As such, I thought I'd ask Mr. Foster about the new fund's strategic perspective and hold off the tactical ("how do you assess the valuations of banking stocks") questions until I have a chance to speak with Mr. E. I'm likely to ask Andrew about the evolution of SFGIX and his current estimate of strategy capacity, as well as the evolution of his investable universe.
Are there other topics you'd like us to approach with Mr. Foster?
As ever,
David

Once Mr. Espinosa's Seafarer Overseas Value stretches his legs, my take is that his fund might potentially have a higher standard deviation than Mr. Foster's original Growth & Income vehicle. Potentially higher absolute returns, too.
SFVLX, SIVLX might also tamp down inflows into the existing Seafarer.
Importantly, it will mitigate problems WHEN the time comes for Mr. Foster to CONSIDER slowing new money and CLOSING SFGIX/SIGIX. He certainly seems extremely shareholder sensitive.

For me, the big question is who is this Espinosa guy, and how much will Foster be involved? Foster's the man who has the long record of success. But I do like the idea that he's handing off the main responsibilities so he won't be overburdened running two funds at once.
If it looks good, could be worth swapping from SFGIX into it. There was that study that new funds from successful shops tend to outperform their older funds.

ARTYX, Lewis Kaufman's fund since he left Thornburg, has done pretty well so far at his new charge. He's basically matched SFGIX since inception, a little less than a year ago, w/ 67% EM stocks (right now, at least, according to M*).

The "best" fund in any category can be a moving target, but especially so with actively-managed EM funds. YTD vs. 3 Yrs? Does 10 years even matter? Some say yes, some say no. Because EM stocks carry higher volatility than developed international stocks (for the most part), there may be a reason to make relatively low volatility a key screen. If that is the case, Seafarer SFGIX is worth a look, even though it only has a 4 year record. Its 3-yr Sharpe ratio is ahead of the other EM funds we track. If you value management that separates itself from the index, Driehaus DREGX and Wasatch WAEMX might fit the bill, since they are small-cap focused. If high Sortino ratio (performance compared to downside risk) is important, SFGIX once again comes through. Just because an entire asset class tends to have high volatility does not mean you have to accept that in the funds you select. ODYMX has the best 10-year record (Leverenz having run the fund for 9 of the 10 years). American New World NWFFX has a darned good record, too. But understand it only has about 35% in EM stocks. And Seafarer is only 57% EM stocks, both of which explain the lower volatility. So there you go.

Mr. Snowball gave us SFGIX. Any other suggestions on the best up and coming equity or balanced mutual fund that nobody yet knows about?

As far as up and coming equity funds, so far I like ARRFX. Other under the radar funds I like are AGLOX, PGFIX, VETAX, UBVAX (closed). 2 of these are focused funds, so they might not be for everybody. I am of the philosophy that if one wants to buy an actively managed domestic large cap fund (that is not themed based such a dividend or sector fund), invest in a focused fund. Otherwise, invest in an S&P 500 index fund. I use an S&P 500 index fund as my core stock fund, and generally buy focused funds for satellite large cap exposure.

Mr. Snowball gave us SFGIX. Any other suggestions on the best up and coming equity or balanced mutual fund that nobody yet knows about?

I chose Seafarer (SFGIX), but in my 401(k), Capital Emerging Markets Growth Fund (EMRGX) chose me, as the plan swapped out American's (NEWFX), for Capital's (EMRGX), which has a lower (.80) ER.
On paper, the EMRGX managers look to have more experience than nearly any foreign/emerging markets operation - its partners have in the range of 15-to-40-years. Apparently, they were "chosen by the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank affiliate, to manage the world’s first global emerging-market fund."
But their long-term results (and the emerging markets category) are uninspiring. If those markets ever catch a sustained rally, I would expect EMRGX to be rewarded for the risk - a la GMO's forecast on a mean reversion for the category.
Right or wrong, I consider such exposure a diversifier, without getting crazy with more esoteric, alternative options.

@prinx:
SFGIX is currently the most attractive actively managed EM equity fund. But to avoid manager risk over the next 10-20 years with the additional kicker of a significant cost advantage, I would favor the inexpensive EEMV (0.25% ER vs. 1.15% net ER for SFGIX). FWIW, the index for this ETF has backtested very well:
Backtest Data EEMV
Also, even though SFGIX has outperformed EEMV since its inception on 2/15/2012, I have more confidence in the much longer backtested data since 2002 for the underlying index of EEMV.
As always, I agree with Ted that investors need only one EM equity fund. If, by chance, you are a fiddler or optimizer, as I am, I would consider adding one country-specific EM ETF which is particularly undervalued to either SFGIX or EEMV. That ETF would be RSX according to this site that I monitor regularly:
http://www.gurufocus.com/global-market-valuation.php
Kevin

Hi, Mona.
Because risk moderation is generally tax-inefficient and for some of the asset classes that interest me (Asia income, for example) there aren't any tax-efficient vehicles. You could try to invest in low-beta stocks and a low-turnover fund, but that's sort of working at the edges of risk reduction.
So I keep good records, absorb the tax hit now and might book a taxable loss (as in the case of Artisan Small Cap Value) when I eventually sell.
Cheers,
David

Hi David,
Thanks for the explanation and I understand the choices.
I too have been hurt by the likes of Artisan (ARTMX) in the past few years with a poor returns and a big tax bill (on the way for the same in 2016), so I have mostly gravitated to Index and muni bond funds in my non-retirement account.
I certainly am not saying ARTMX offers any risk moderation (just the opposite high SD) like SFGIX and MACSX, but I have become very shy about putting any more actively managed funds in my non-retirement account. And the dilemma is, my non-retirement account is larger than my retirement account. I fill up my retirement account with other tax-inefficient funds (PIMIX, DBLTX, MACSX, PTIAX, VWEAX and one or two others), but the point is I have less room and have become conscious of asset location.
So now in some ways I let the tax tail wag the dog, but I sleep better if I continue to build my non-retirement account with funds that are tax-efficient, with a low ER and give me market returns.
I have owned ARTMX since 2006 in my non-retirement account, reinvested dividends each year (except last year), and like you did with ARTVX, I just need to bring myself to cutting the cord and before the November capital gain distribution.
Best Regards,
Mona

"I agree with Ted: One Emerging Markets Fund is all you need."
@Ted & @Charles- yes, fine, as long as you choose SFGIX and not WAFMX.

"If you wanted more of the same, you might consider DRESX, which offers hedged exposure to EM small caps" Are we really comparing DRESX to SFGIX? The two are not similar at all...

In my case, I have positions in SFGIX, MACSX and MAINX in my non-retirement portfolio and FTEMX in my retirement one.
For what that's worth,
David

Hi David,
Why relatively tax-inefficient funds in your non-retirement portfolio?
Mona

I agree with the folks: there aren't many better options than Seafarer. You might imagine Mr. Foster's mantra as "safe and sane." If you wanted more of the same, you might consider DRESX, which offers hedged exposure to EM small caps, or FTEMX, which mixes EM stocks and bonds. If you wanted to go in the other direction and look for a (small!) position on the wild side, then I'd consider specialists in small companies, small countries and/or frontier economies.
In my case, I have positions in SFGIX, MACSX and MAINX in my non-retirement portfolio and FTEMX in my retirement one.
For what that's worth,
David

@prinx, I'm a fan of Grandeur Peak but their emerging markets fund is hard closed and who knows when it will open again. I think SFGIX is a great fund but if you're looking for alternatives I'd suggest doing some research on DRESX or MEASX to see if they add anything for you.

I would like to diversify my emerging markets investments. Right now I have SEAFARER SFGIX and it is doing well.
Which other EM funds have worked out well to add additional investment?
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