FP Carmignac Emerging Markets: Letter from the Fund Managers - Q2 2025
+5.9%
Second quarter performance of FP Carmignac Emerging Markets A GBP Acc versus +5.5% for its comparator benchmark1.
+19.8%
3-year performance of FP Carmignac Emerging Markets A GBP Acc versus +17.0% for its comparator benchmark1.
Over the second quarter, FP Carmignac Emerging Markets A GBP Acc recorded a positive performance of +5.9%, compared to +5.5% for its comparator benchmark1. Yet, the quarter began under challenging conditions, marked by President Trump’s announcement of particularly high tariffs on imports, notably those from China. Despite this context, emerging markets not only posted positive returns but also outperformed both developed and U.S. markets. This outperformance can be attributed to investors' realization that Trump's isolationist policy was likely to be more detrimental to the United States than to its trading partners.
Furthermore, China demonstrated its negotiation leverage by using its control over rare metal refining, thereby enforcing a trade truce with the United States and obtaining a relaxation of the restrictions on the export of Nvidia’s high-performance chips.
Latin America
The fund’s strong performance over the quarter was largely driven by Latin America.
Our main positions in the region, which form the core of our LatAm portfolio — such as Banorte and Mercado Libre — significantly outperformed. Mexico has benefited from the protection provided by the USMCA free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, positioning it as a likely winner in the current economic and geopolitical environment. Moreover, Claudia Sheinbaum, despite having a temperament and political stance very different from Trump’s, opted to avoid confrontation by reinforcing border controls. This approach allowed Trump to claim a symbolic victory on the issue of migration.
Taiwan & South Korea
Among other positive contributors to the fund’s performance, our holdings in companies linked to artificial intelligence — such as TSMC, Hynix, and Elite Material — also deserve mention.
This theme plays a central role in our investment process, and Asia is home to many key players in the field. This is why we increased our position in Hynix at the beginning of the quarter. Hynix’s HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) chips, used by Nvidia for AI applications, have disrupted the market to its advantage, while Samsung’s competing products have yet to receive Nvidia certification. As of June 30, Hynix represented 5.4% of the fund.
Hynix also benefited from the sharp rally in the South Korean market following the election of Lee Jae-Myung as president on June 3. Upon taking office, President Lee announced plans to encourage large Korean conglomerates, or chaebols, to improve corporate governance — a move that sparked strong enthusiasm in the markets. We took this opportunity to exit our position in Samsung, whose foundry investments have not managed to close the gap with TSMC, the clear market leader with a near-monopoly in the segment. The disappointing returns of Samsung’s foundry division and its loss of leadership in the memory market make the company less attractive to us than in the past.
India & Southeast Asia
During the quarter, we did not make any changes to our Indian portfolio (18.8% of the fund), but we increased our exposure to Southeast Asia. We initiated a position in the Indonesian private bank Bank Central Asia, which fully meets the criteria of our investment process.
The first criterion relates to the underpenetration of the banking sector in Indonesia: with a bank credit-to-GDP ratio of just 31%2, the level remains exceptionally low — not only compared to developed markets but also relative to other emerging economies. Among major emerging markets, only Argentina has a lower penetration rate, largely due to the repeated economic crises it has experienced.
Indonesia, by contrast, enjoys steady growth of around 5%, a low sovereign debt level (39% of GDP), moderate inflation near 2%, and a solid balance of payments3. These factors provide a supportive environment for stable and sustainable growth in the years — if not decades — ahead.
In addition, Bank Central Asia stands out as the only major privately-owned bank in the country, with all other large institutions being state-owned. This setup is reminiscent of India, where private banks have gradually gained market share from public sector banks thanks to greater operational efficiency. Bank Central Asia has a robust financial structure, with a Tier 1 ratio of 27%, a low non-performing loan ratio of 2%, and a return on equity exceeding 20%4. Following a more than 25% underperformance over the past year5, the stock’s valuation appeared attractive to us, with its P/E ratio falling below its long-term average. This led us to initiate a position in the stock.
The arrival of Naomi Waistell
This quarter was also marked by the strengthening of the investment team, with the appointment of Naomi Waistell as co-portfolio manager of FP Carmignac Emerging Markets.
With nearly 16 years of experience in emerging markets management, Naomi fully embraces the fund’s investment philosophy, focusing on high-quality companies with strong growth prospects and resilient business models capable of generating sufficient free cash flow to sustain performance, even during economic slowdowns.
We are confident that our investment process, which serves as our compass, will continue to guide us in delivering strong performance over the coming years, particularly as a new bull market appears to be taking shape in an asset class that many investors had long overlooked in favor of U.S. markets.
The recent weakness of the dollar and the US bond market is paving the way for a reallocation towards emerging markets, which remain significantly underweight in asset allocators' portfolios. This is all the more true given that the average 2026 price earnings (P/E) ratio for emerging countries is 11.1x, compared with 18.4x for developed markets. According to a recent JP Morgan study, if emerging markets simply reached a weighting equivalent to that of the MSCI AC World benchmark, this would result in an estimated $1.5 trillion flowing into emerging market equities6.
Positioning as of 30/06/2025
FP Carmignac Emerging Markets
Searching growth opportunities in emerging-market equitiesDiscover the fund pageFP Carmignac Emerging Markets A GBP ACC
- Recommended minimum investment horizon
- 5 years
- Risk indicator*
- 6/7
- SFDR - Fund Classification
- Article -
*Risk Scale from the KIID (Key Investor Information Document). Risk 1 does not mean a risk-free investment. This indicator may change over time.
Main risks of the fund
Fees
- Maximum subscription fees paid to distributors
- 0,00%
- Redemption Fees
- 0,00%
- Conversion Fee
-
- Ongoing Charges
- 0.95%
- Management Fees
- 0,87% MAX
- Performance Fees
-
Footnote
Performance
| FP Carmignac Emerging Markets | 13.6 | 63.0 | -15.6 | -9.5 | 7.2 | 0.9 | 7.6 |
| Reference Indicator | 8.8 | 14.7 | -1.6 | -10.0 | 3.6 | 9.4 | 5.3 |
| FP Carmignac Emerging Markets | + 6.2 % | + 5.2 % | + 8.5 % |
| Reference Indicator | + 5.4 % | + 4.6 % | + 4.6 % |
Source: Carmignac at 30 Jun 2025.
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Performances are net of fees (excluding possible entrance fees charged by the distributor).
Reference Indicator: MSCI EM NR index
Articles that may interest you
Trump 2.0: Make Emerging Markets great again
FP Carmignac Emerging Markets: Letter from the Fund Manager
Marketing communication. Please refer to the KID/KIID, prospectus of the fund before making any final investment decisions. This document is intended for professional clients.
This material may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior authorisation from the Management Company. This material does not constitute a subscription offer, nor does it constitute investment advice. This material is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, accounting, legal or tax advice. This material has been provided to you for informational purposes only and may not be relied upon by you in evaluating the merits of investing in any securities or interests referred to herein or for any other purposes. The information contained in this material may be partial information and may be modified without prior notice. They are expressed as of the date of writing and are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources deemed by Carmignac to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Carmignac, its officers, employees or agents.
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Performances are net of fees (excluding possible entrance fees charged by the distributor). The return may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations, for the shares which are not currency-hedged.
Reference to certain securities and financial instruments is for illustrative purposes to highlight stocks that are or have been included in the portfolios of funds in the Carmignac range. This is not intended to promote direct investment in those instruments, nor does it constitute investment advice. The Management Company is not subject to prohibition on trading in these instruments prior to issuing any communication. The portfolios of Carmignac funds may change without previous notice. The reference to a ranking or prize, is no guarantee of the future results of the UCIS or the manager.
Morningstar Rating™ : © Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; may not be copied or distributed; and is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
Access to the Funds may be subject to restrictions regarding certain persons or countries. This material is not directed to any person in any jurisdiction where (by reason of that person’s nationality, residence or otherwise) the material or availability of this material is prohibited. Persons in respect of whom such prohibitions apply must not access this material. Taxation depends on the situation of the individual. The Funds are not registered for retail distribution in Asia, in Japan, in North America, nor are they registered in South America. Carmignac Funds are registered in Singapore as restricted foreign scheme (for professional clients only). The Funds have not been registered under the US Securities Act of 1933. The Funds may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, for the benefit or on behalf of a «U.S. person», according to the definition of the US Regulation S and FATCA.
The risks, fees and ongoing charges are described in the KID (Key Information Document). The KID must be made available to the subscriber prior to subscription. The subscriber must read the KID. Investors may lose some or all their capital, as the capital in the funds are not guaranteed. The Funds present a risk of loss of capital.
The Funds’ prospectus, KIDs, NAVs and annual reports are available at www.carmignac.com/en, or upon request to the Management Carmignac Portfolio refers to the sub-funds of Carmignac Portfolio SICAV, an investment company under Luxembourg law, conforming to the UCITS Directive. The French investment funds (fonds communs de placement or FCP) are common funds in contractual form conforming to the UCITS or AIFM Directive under French law.
In the United Kingdom: the Funds’ respective prospectuses, KIIDs and annual reports are available at www.carmignac.com/en-gb, or upon request to the Management Company, or for the French Funds, at the offices of the acilities Agent, Carmignac UK Ltd, 2 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AF. This document was prepared by Carmignac Gestion, Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg or Carmignac UK Ltd. FP Carmignac ICVC (the “Company”) is an Investment Company with variable capital incorporated in England and Wales under registered number 839620 and is authorised by the FCA with effect from 4 April 2019 and launched on 15 May 2019. FundRock Partners Limited is the Authorised Corporate Director (the “ACD”) of the Company and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Registered Office: Hamilton Centre, Rodney Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3BY, UK; Registered in England and Wales with number 4162989. Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg SA has been appointed as the Investment Manager and distributor in respect of the Company. Carmignac UK Ltd (Registered in England and Wales with number 14162894) has been appointed as a sub-Investment Manager of the Company and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with FRN:984288.
In Switzerland: the prospectus, KIDs and annual report are available at www.carmignac.com/en-ch, or through our representative in Switzerland, CACEIS (Switzerland), S.A., Route de Signy 35, CH-1260 Nyon. The paying agent is CACEIS Bank, Montrouge, Nyon Branch / Switzerland, Route de Signy 35, 1260 Nyon.
The Management Company can cease promotion in your country anytime. Investors have access to a summary of their rights in English on the following links: UK ; Switzerland ; France ; Luxembourg ; Sweden.
For Carmignac Portfolio Long-Short European Equities: Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg SA in its capacity as the Management Company for Carmignac Portfolio, has delegated the investment management of this Sub-Fund to White Creek Capital LLP (Registered in England and Wales with number OCC447169) from 2nd May 2024. White Creek Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with FRN : 998349.
Carmignac Private Evergreen refers to the Private Evergreen sub-fund of the SICAV Carmignac S.A. SICAV – PART II UCI, registered with the Luxembourg RCS under number B285278.