Lim Wen Loong, investment director at Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets trust, explains why he believes emerging markets remain attractively valued, where he is finding opportunities and how a disciplined stockpicking approach is shaping the portfolio.
The Monday Manager series covers fund managers that have worked on their fund for over three years, and where fund assets are over £100m.
Can you explain the trust’s approach to investment and what it is trying to achieve for investors?
The trust aims to deliver long-term capital appreciation by investing in businesses that provide exposure to emerging markets. It follows an approach that is fundamentally bottom-up and stock-driven.
Rather than attempting to forecast macroeconomic variables or position portfolios around short-term market events, the team focuses on identifying high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, strong governance, attractive valuations and long-term growth potential.
Emerging markets represent a large, inefficient, and under-owned investment universe, creating a structural opportunity for active alpha generation. Despite accounting for a meaningful share of global GDP, emerging markets remain significantly under-represented in global equity indices and investor portfolios.
At the same time, fundamentals are improving, earnings growth is expected to be superior to developed markets, and on a relative basis, valuations are compelling.
A key rhetoric in the market over the past year has been the structural rerating of emerging markets. How is this reflected in your positioning?
We believe the structural investment case for emerging markets remains compelling. Despite a strong period of recent outperformance, valuations remain attractive relative to developed markets, particularly the US, while earnings growth expectations continue to exceed those of developed market peers. On a one-year forward P/E basis, as of 30 June 2026, the MSCI EM Index was trading at a 39% discount to the MSCI World Index.
Emerging economies have also demonstrated improving macroeconomic resilience in recent years, supported by stronger growth trajectories. We are also seeing rising interest in emerging markets among global institutional investors, as they look to diversify beyond increasingly concentrated developed-market exposures.
See also: Monday Manager: Principal Finisterre’s Buchet targets high-carry income amid volatility
In our view, this trend is supported by the combination of superior growth prospects, attractive valuations, and a broadening opportunity set across emerging markets.
We continue to find attractive opportunities across a wide range of sectors and geographies, including businesses benefiting from technology and AI-related investment, manufacturing growth, governance reforms and rising domestic consumption trends.
Which EM regions are you avoiding, and which EM regions are you favouring? Why?
We do not seek to make large country or regional bets and instead aim to maintain a balanced portfolio relative to the benchmark.
As of May 2026, the largest (on absolute basis) portfolio positions are in Taiwan, South Korea, China, and India. From a relative perspective, India is the largest overweight. India offers one of the most heterogeneous industry and sector landscapes within emerging markets, providing significant opportunities for alpha generation.
WhiteOak can draw upon the resources of one of the largest EM investment research teams, complemented by a strong presence in India.
That apart, we continue to find attractive opportunities in Taiwan and South Korea, particularly within technology and semiconductor-related supply chains linked to AI investment. There is also an allocation towards developed world companies which derive the majority of their revenues or value from emerging markets.
Though not a perfect hedge, the company’s investments in these companies do mitigate the risk of lower direct exposure to some equity markets like China.
How much gearing are you using in the trust at the moment and why?
The trust currently employs no gearing and has not used gearing since inception. While the mandate permits gearing of up to 25% of NAV and we recognise it can be a useful tool for enhancing long-term returns, we have not felt there has been a need to utilise it.
Our focus remains on generating returns through stock selection and disciplined portfolio construction rather than through financial leverage.
What are some of the key long-term themes you are playing in the portfolio at the moment?
As mentioned earlier, we do not position the portfolio around specific themes, sectors or macroeconomic views. Our investment process is fundamentally bottom-up as we believe macroeconomic and geopolitical events are inherently impossible to predict reliably.
Thus, our focus remains on identifying high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, strong governance and attractive long-term growth prospects.
However, certain trends naturally emerge from our stock selection process. Today, we are finding a significant number of opportunities in areas linked to technology and AI infrastructure, particularly across semiconductor and technology supply chains in markets such as Taiwan and South Korea, although given our investing style, we are unlikely to have a concentrated positioning within particular niches.
We also continue to see attractive opportunities across consumer businesses, healthcare, and industrial companies.
What is the best piece of investment advice you have ever been given?
Focus on owning great businesses rather than trying to predict macroeconomic events. In our experience, long-term returns are ultimately driven by the quality of the businesses in the portfolio, the durability of their competitive advantages and the price you pay, whereas macroeconomic and geopolitical events are impossible to predict consistently.