Speaking to InvestorDaily, Chicago-based Mr McAtamney – who is the portfolio manager of William Blair’s Global Leaders Strategy – said the corporate development of emerging market companies has been one of the under-appreciated stories of the last 15 years.
“The proportion of those emerging market domiciled companies in our coverage universe in 2000 would have been about 12 or 13 per cent of our total global opportunity set,” said Mr McAtamney.
Today, about 30 per cent of the global high-quality opportunity set are companies that are domiciled in emerging markets, he said.
“That’s a dramatic change. It’s not just where the growth is coming from, but it’s where strong corporate performance is coming from,” said Mr McAtamney.
There are innovative business models and strong corporate management cultures in emerging markets, he said – and they are often not very well known on a global basis, he said.
“If we can find a smaller Taiwanese technology company that makes widgets that are going to be in the next mobile device, for example, that might be interesting to us,” said Mr McAtamney
“It’s demonstrating clear leadership in its little niche area, but it might not be in the average investor’s radar screen,” he said.
The Global Leaders Fund currently holds around 80 stocks representing all geographic areas around the world, said Mr McAtamney.
William Blair recently launched three unit trusts in Australia: the Global Leaders Equity Fund, the Emerging Market Leaders Equity Fund and the Dynamic Diversified Allocation Fund.
