Mirae Asset's U.S. Mutual Funds Celebrate First Anniversary
Emerging Market Leader's Funds Target Global, Regional, China and Brazil Opportunities
September 28, 2011
New York
Emerging markets leader Mirae Asset Global Investments ("Mirae Asset") today announced the one-year anniversary of the launch of its first mutual funds in the U.S. The suite of six Mirae Asset Discovery Funds, which debuted in September 2010, aims to take advantage of equity investment opportunities in the world's emerging markets.
The mutual funds are constructed using Mirae Asset's Sector Leader and Great Consumer investment strategies. These investment approaches are derived from the firm's research, which concludes that ongoing socioeconomic changes in emerging market economies have the potential to continue to support domestic business expansion. The Mirae Asset Discovery Funds seek to capture the beneficial impact these effects can continue to have on emerging markets equities through strategies that are designed for the distinctive attributes of these markets. Stocks in each portfolio are selected using the research-intensive, bottom-up approach employed since the firm's inception in 1997.
Mirae Asset's investment professionals conduct on-the-ground research from offices in New York, Hong Kong and São Paulo. The Mirae Asset Discovery Funds, with nearly $70 million in assets under management, have attracted a steadily expanding roster of major distribution partners, including Pershing, UBS, Commonwealth and others.
"This anniversary marks an exciting milestone for Mirae Asset Global Investments in the United States," said Joon Kwun, President and CEO of Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA). "Emerging markets expertise is the centerpiece of our offering to investors. With our global team of portfolio management talent, we aim to deliver a broad spectrum of actively managed emerging market opportunities to U.S. investors so they can participate in the long-term growth potential of these economies."
One-year Track Record Highlights Emerging Markets Opportunities
The six Mirae Asset Discovery Funds completing a one-year track record are the Global Emerging Markets Sector Leader Fund (MILGX); the Global Emerging Markets Great Consumer Fund (MICGX); the Asia Sector Leader Fund (MILAX); the Asia Great Consumer Fund (MGCIX); the Brazil Sector Leader Fund (MILBX) and the China Sector Leader Fund (MELCX). In addition to the Class I shares (with tickers noted above), each fund also offers Class A and Class C shares.
Emerging vs. Developed Markets: Population Size, Consumption and Savings Rates
Overall, Mirae Asset finds that, while emerging markets on average are well-positioned demographically, with the potential to drive global consumption going forward, each emerging economy has a unique population structure and story.
In terms of age, the average median age of the population in the emerging markets is 24% below the average median age of the population in developed markets. Emerging markets populations are collectively about five times the size of populations in global developed markets. Moreover, rates of population increases in emerging markets are expected to be ten times those of developed markets between 2010 and 2015. Given this massive absolute population size and its projected increase, the firm believes that the emerging economies have the potential to be natural drivers of global consumption, as they may provide substantial numbers of consumers across different sectors and trends.
The emerging markets' average household savings rate is also 19.0%, well above the developed markets' average of 9.7%. However, savings rates diverge within the emerging markets. For example, Mirae Asset believes that the declining savings rate in China is particularly significant, given the size of its economy (already the second largest globally) and its economic growth rate of roughly 10%. As the savings rate in China declines, Mirae Asset anticipates a substantial, positive impact on global consumption as Chinese households will spend a larger percentage of their disposable incomes on both discretionary and nondiscretionary goods and services. In China, the household savings rate is already among the highest globally, close to 37%, indicating that there is room for increased consumption expenditures while still maintaining the relatively high savings rate.
Risks: Emerging markets: Emerging market investing may be subject to additional economic, political, liquidity, and currency risks not associated with more developed countries. Equity Securities Risk: Equity securities include common and preferred stocks. Stock markets are volatile. The value of equity securities is affected by changes in a company's financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. Preferred stock may be subject to optional or mandatory redemption provisions. Geographic Concentration Risk: A small number of companies and industries may represent a large portion of the market in a particular country or region, and these companies and industries can be sensitive to adverse social, political, economic or regulatory developments in that country or region.
For more information on emerging markets trends, please visit Mirae Asset's "Demographics in Emerging Markets: Hope or Hype?"
Mirae Asset Global Investments
Mirae Asset Global Investments is one of the world's largest investment managers in emerging market equities (source: Investments & Pensions Europe, January 2011). With over 650 employees, including more than 130 dedicated investment professionals, Mirae Asset has offices in Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil, Taiwan, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, China and Vietnam. The firm manages over $53 billion in assets globally, of which more than $25 billion is invested in emerging market equities (as of June 30, 2011). Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA) is focused on providing emerging market equity investment advisory services to mutual funds, foreign investment trusts and institutions. www.miraeasset.com
Contact:
John McInerney
Makovsky + Company
jmcinerney@makovsky.com
(212) 508-9628
Priscilla Li
Makovsky + Company
pli@makovsky.com
(212) 508-9659
Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA) LLC is the investment adviser for the Mirae Asset Discovery Funds.
An investor should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information about the investment company can be found in the Fund's prospectus. To obtain a prospectus, please contact your financial advisor or please call 1-888-335-3417. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
The Mirae Asset Discovery Funds are distributed by Funds Distributor, LLC.