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

@Old_Joe Yes, SFGIX appears to be a good choice for general EM exposure. But, when I sold LZOEX three years ago, I was looking for a FM fund with good exposure to Africa so I bought WAFMX (which I learned about at MFO). That got supplemented with MEASX when it became available for more FM Asia exposure. MAPIX, ARTJX, WAFMX, and MEASX give me about 6% EM exposure out of 50% in stocks (20% foreign, 30% US).

@Junkster & @davfor- best of both worlds- I kept MAPIX despite the lack of dividend last qtr, and also have SFGIX. Both of those, as you mentioned, thanks to many years of good info from folks here at MFO & FundAlarm. About 5% of our portfolio for those two.

Dong Suh (S. Korea) up over 6% on Wednesday. Is that why the big rise in SFGIX? I wonder just what transpired?

@Junkster Yes. SFGIX has been on a roll. But, I still keep comparing it to MAPIX -- Andrews Fosters old home base -- and have yet to find a reason to switch horses. MAPIX has outperformed since SFGIX was born and is keeping up YTD. I know they have somewhat different mandates....but the results haven't varied too much so far.

The Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index (junk corporates) Then again, were I younger, poorer, less risk averse/ more aggressive SFGIX would be my cup of tea. Congrats to all the MFOers in that one in 2015.

I'm loving it, however it happened. Thanks for the news links and info. My PRASX jumped +2.07%. And SFGIX jumped +1.31%.

There are theoretical numbers and actual numbers. M* publishes both on a fund's expenses page, but uses the actual on a fund's summary page.
By "actual" I mean actual dollars and percentages spent by the fund, as reported in its latest (semi)annual report. By "theoretical" I mean the prospective expenses as speculated by its prospectus.
It is worth noting that all the figures incorporate fee waivers. So both the "actual" ER of 1.4% and the "theoretical" ER of 1.25% are subsidized numbers. The "true" "theoretical" ER (per prospectus) is 1.66%.
The lower number (1.25% vs. the older 1.4%) going forward is a result of a reduced cap put into place by Seafarer last Sept 1. It does not necessarily represent a reduction in "true" expenses. On the other hand, Seafarer did reduce its declared management fees by 10 basis points at that same time - that represents a true reduction in ER.

Again, (and as usual) the monthly April Commentary was a great read. Thank you. Along the way, attention was paid to Seafarer. Did I miss it, or was the ER given as Morningstar has it, rather than the CORRECT ER, at 1.25%...?
Morningstar has the SFGIX ER at 1.4%. I'll be on the road, or else I'd join the Call with Andrew Foster, coming up. :)

MAPOX= .50 cents for 1Q. Inline with expectations. I've got 3 others which pay MONTHLY. (DLFNX, PREMX and PRSNX.) SFGIX pays in June and December, and is making a mini-comeback in the last couple or few days, on its way to $12.00/share. Still some distance to cover, there... And my others pay (hopefully) only at end-of-year: MSCFX, TRAMX, PRWCX, PRASX. Wifey's 403b did pay a "supplemental" tiny dividend in March. NAESX. Looking at their pay-out history, that fund makes a habit of doing that: bigger pay-out in December, then a tiny little something in March. Ted informed us of the March pay-out in 2015, originally, if memory serves me.

Yes, I own much less in EM than I did only last year. My only pure play is SFGIX: 2.69% of portfolio. TRAMX (frontier), 5.95% of portfolio, PRASX is 15.06% of portf....
M* X-ray tells me I own 25% foreign equities. Though I pulled out of PRESX, I still have 3.26% in developed Europe, and 0.7% in emerging Europe. And 13.1% developed Asia, 15.53% in Emerging Asia.
Canada and US: 55.01%
Bonds of all sorts: 37% of total.

I still say Abbott Labs (ABT) is the most enjoyably boring play on EM, with about 50% of revenues from EM and the stock is conservative to put it lightly. International Flavors and Fragrances, which has been around for 125 years or so, is also about 50% EM. (IFF). I own both. As for EM, I continue to own RIMIX and a few individual names but less EM than I used to.
EM I think remains a compelling long-term theme but it's not been a good few years. I mean look at Wintergreen's attempts to play the EM consumer, with Macau stocks (obliterated) and luxury goods (which were hurt by the crackdown in Asia on luxury gifting.)
SFGIX is probably the most interesting to me from the standpoint of the growth and income mix.

@Sven, they both look like apples to me, just different. SFGIX actually has more EM exposure according to M*, 68.37% vs. 65.97% for THDIX. SFGIX is definitely more multi-cap (average market cap $3.5B vs. $13.2B) and has more of a value bias. Finally, SFGIX has higher sharpe ratios over the past 1- and 3-year periods, and a higher sortino ratio over the past 3-years. Go Heels !
Kevin

@Kevin, not sure if that is a apple-to-apple comparison between Seafare and Thornburg funds. SFGIX has smaller exposure to EM space than that of THDIX, thus this reflect in the statistics shown. Besides the managers take on different approach with Mr. Foster being the more conservative of the two. Over the long run investors will likely to stay invested and perhaps net better long term returns. Having said that I prefer SFGIX over Mr. Kaufman's new fund as you are.

In the diversified EM equity space, SFGIX/SIGIX continues to be my pick, with higher returns than THDIX (Kaufman's previous fund) over the trailing periods of 1M, 3M, YTD, 1 YR, 3 YR and since inception of SFGIX/SIGIX. And SFGIX/SIGIX has lower standard deviations and higher Sharpe Ratios and Sortino Ratios over the past 3 years. I would definitely pass on the new Artisan fund and invest with SFGIX/SIGIX.
Kevin

My EM is in SFGIX (2.67% of portf.) and partly in PRASX, with both developed and developing markets. PRASX = 14.9% of portf.
These countries and these funds run in streaks, often. As long as you trust your choices, strap yourself in. Don't bail.

I'm with you, Mo. Have some SFGIX, but kept MAPIX also. MAPIX seems to be doing pretty well so YTD, despite the lack of dividend last qtr.

As we'd anticipated, Seafarer Overseas Growth & Income (SFGIX/SIGIX) just received their inaugural five-star rating from Morningstar. And they're also Great Owl funds, based on our more risk-sensitive rankings.
Of 219 diversified EM funds currently tracked by Morningstar, 18 have a five-star rating. 13 are Great Owls. Seafarer and 10 others (representing 5% of the peer group) are both five-star and Great Owls.
Baron Emerging Markets(BEXFX) - $1.5 billion in AUM, 1.5% e.r., not quite five years old, large-growth with an Asian bias, mgr also runs Int'l Growth.
City National Rochdale Emerging Markets (RIMIX) - 90% invested in Asia, City National Bank, headquartered in Hollywood, bought the Rochdale Funds and was itself bought in January 2015 by the Royal Bank of Canada. Interesting funds. No minimum investment but a 1.61% e.r. The EM fund acquires exposure to Indian stocks by investing in a wholly owned subsidiary domiciled in Mauritius. Hmmm.
Driehaus EM Small Cap Growth (DRESX) - a $600 million hedged fund (and former hedge fund) for which we have a profile. Expenses are 1.71%.
Federated EM Equity (FGLEX) - a $13 million institutional fund with a $1 million minimum, not quite five years old, mostly mega cap portfolio that had two really good years followed by two really soft ones.
HSBC Frontier Markets (HSFAX) - 5% front load, 2.2% e.r., $200 million in AUM, midcap bias and a huge overweight in Africa & the Middle East at the expense of Asia. Curious.
Harding Loevner Frontier EM (HLMOX) - modest overweight in Asia, huge overweight in Africa & the Middle East, far lower-than-average market cap, half a billion in assets, 2.2% e.r.
Mirae Asset EM Great Consumer (MECGX) - marginal inclusion since the retail shares are four stars (1.85% e.r. is a drag) while institutional is five stars, not quite five years old, mega cap growth, lots of companies (hotels, consumer goods, drug companies) that directly interface with consumers.
Seafarer Overseas Growth & Income (SFGIX) - $136 million in AUM, 1.4% e.r., small- to mid-cap bias, top 4% returns over its first three years of operation
Thornburg Developing World (THDAX) - oopsie: lead manager Lewis Kaufman just jumped from the $3 billion ship to start an EM team at Artisan.
Wasatch Frontier Emerging Small Countries - $1.3 billion in AUM and closed to new investors
William Blair EM Small Cap Growth - $300 million in AUM and closed to new investors.
On face, the pattern seems to be that small works. Lots of exposure to smaller firms located in smaller markets, even by EM standards. SFGIX is the second-smallest fund in the group, which makes it all the more striking that it's the least expensive of all. Among the least risky of this elite group.
Congratulations to Andrew and his team. We'll share a conference call with him on April 16 and you'd be more than welcome to join us.
David

Another fund is SFGIX. While it is not a pure Asia play, it has about 60% of assets in Asia. Andrew Foster is a well respected manager formerly at Matthews.
Dittos on the TRowe Price fund.

SFGIX is in top 4% of category going back to its birth, 3 years ago. More recently, top 1%. That surely cannot be sustained, but it's nice to see. MACSX? "Not so much."
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=SFGIX&region=USA