3Q2021 – Global Emerging Markets Growth Commentary

While we acknowledge the risks in some Chinese companies have increased, we are still very optimistic about the investment opportunities.

During the third quarter of 2021, the Polen Global Emerging Markets Growth Composite Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) returned -7.59% gross of fees outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the “Index”), which returned -8.09%.
Events in China significantly impacted emerging markets, namely increased regulatory scrutiny from policymakers and the well-publicized credit troubles surrounding real estate developer Evergrande.
As has been the case throughout the year, emerging market equity sectors typically associated with being more cyclical or value in nature continued to outperform the broader market.
Year to date, the only sectors in the emerging markets index to have delivered a positive performance are energy, financials, industrials, IT, materials and utilities.
While emerging markets face additional health hurdles compared to their developed counterparts, we expect economic growth in emerging markets to accelerate at a fast pace as conditions improve. Therefore, we believe that the case for investing in global emerging markets remains bright and intact.