Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Russian overweight wiped out after initial phase of Russia drop.  China underweight contracts on the back of natural portfolio adjustments.</li>
<li>South Africa takes on new role as the top pure EM play in the region.  Saudi Arabia underweight increases.</li>
<li>Russian overweight causes underperformance of -0.64% for active managers compared to benchmark.  Saudi Arabia u/w is proving a costly position for active managers in the face of inflated oil prices.</li>
</ul>


Russian overweight wiped out after initial phase of Russia drop.  China underweight contracts on the back of natural portfolio adjustments.
South Africa takes on new role as the top pure EM play in the region.  Saudi Arabia underweight increases.
Russian overweight causes underperformance of -0.64% for active managers compared to benchmark.  Saudi Arabia u/w is proving a costly position for active managers in the face of inflated oil prices.


<ul>
<li>Russia suffered a significant reallocation of capital during the Crimea Annexation in 2014.  Average weights fell by -3.36%, 7.9% of funds closed positions and investors shifted from overweight to underweight</li>
<li>EM investors were well positioned in Russia heading in to 2022, not perhaps as heavily exposed as pre-Crimea, but enough to significantly effect portfolio returns for many funds.</li>
<li>Given the scale of the Ukraine conflict and the uncertainty surrounding western sanctions, this doesn’t feel like the time for catching a falling knife.</li>
</ul>


Russia suffered a significant reallocation of capital during the Crimea Annexation in 2014.  Average weights fell by -3.36%, 7.9% of funds closed positions and investors shifted from overweight to underweight
EM investors were well positioned in Russia heading in to 2022, not perhaps as heavily exposed as pre-Crimea, but enough to significantly effect portfolio returns for many funds.
Given the scale of the Ukraine conflict and the uncertainty surrounding western sanctions, this doesn’t feel like the time for catching a falling knife.


Russia: Echoes of the Past. Crimea Analysis and Positioning Update

Global Emerging Market Equities, Propitious Research

Wium Malan, CFA

Global Emerging Market Equities

Independent, Fundamental Quantitative Research

Propitious Research

Fully independent, fundamental and quantitative equity research, focused on companies in the Telecommunication, Media, Technology, Internet and Healthcare sectors in the Global Emerging Markets. Idea generation focused on Quality stocks, trading below their intrinsic Value, with sound Corporate Governance.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>An overview (and output) of our machine learning-driven GEM screening model, which seeks to find the best medium-term long ideas within the top100 stocks in the MSCI GEM Index.</li>
<li>The model is based on 1) a quantitative multifactor screening model, enhanced by two AI Technology-based approaches; 2) a Deep Neural Network model, and 3) a Recurrent Neural Network model.</li>
<li>Developed over the past 3 years, and implemented in its current state for 20 months, the model has a solid real-world alpha-generating performance track record, set out in detail below.</li>
</ul>


An overview (and output) of our machine learning-driven GEM screening model, which seeks to find the best medium-term long ideas within the top100 stocks in the MSCI GEM Index.
The model is based on 1) a quantitative multifactor screening model, enhanced by two AI Technology-based approaches; 2) a Deep Neural Network model, and 3) a Recurrent Neural Network model.
Developed over the past 3 years, and implemented in its current state for 20 months, the model has a solid real-world alpha-generating performance track record, set out in detail below.


Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

iShares Russell 2000 ETF / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>The market continues to send mixed signals - some neutral or healthy signals but some risk-off signals as well.</li>
<li>As long as the Russell 2000 index (IWM) is above $208, Russell Micro Cap index (IWC) is above $134-$135, and the S&amp;P 500 is above 4495, we cannot be bearish.</li>
<li>Treasury yields are not breaking down below 1.40%-1.45% support on the 10-year Treasury yield and 1.76% support on the 30-year Treasury yield.</li>
</ul>


The market continues to send mixed signals - some neutral or healthy signals but some risk-off signals as well.
As long as the Russell 2000 index (IWM) is above $208, Russell Micro Cap index (IWC) is above $134-$135, and the S&amp;P 500 is above 4495, we cannot be bearish.
Treasury yields are not breaking down below 1.40%-1.45% support on the 10-year Treasury yield and 1.76% support on the 30-year Treasury yield.


Continued Absence Of Breakdowns Is A Positive Sign; Many Bottoms-Up Stock Recommendations

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Energy is a lightly held sector, a bit part player in a world dominated by Tech, Financials and the EM Consumer.  The average holding weight among the active EM funds in our analysis stands at just 3.81%, underweight the benchmark by -2.11% on average.The fact that nearly a quarter of active EM managers have no exposure to the Energy sector is perhaps the most telling statistic of just how under-owned the sector is.  Part of that reason, we believe, lies in the risk of not holding Energy when index weights are so low. With Oil prices at multi-year highs, the Energy sector has started to outperform in a big way, with EM Energy outperforming the broader MSCI EM index by over 30% over the last 12 months.  With just 22.7% of funds overweight the benchmark, active EM managers are feeling the pinch.  The risk of being underweight or avoiding the sector completely has moved significantly higher.One of the factors that has driven Energy to the margins of EM investment is the rise of secular growth opportunities in Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services.  Indeed, the current investor base in Energy is heavily skewed towards the Value and Yield end of the spectrum.  Instead, Aggressive Growth managers have rotated towards the secular growth opportunities within Packaged Software, Internet Retail, Biotechnology and Internet Software/Services.Can the lure of a cyclical growth opportunity such as Energy be enough to win back investment from Growth investors?  If Energy keeps outperforming it will undoubtedly push Growth investors to look for opportunities within the sector.  We identify 2 stocks that already have an investor base among both Aggressive Growth and Growth funds, whilst also appealing to Value investors.  As such, we would expect both to be on the shortlist of the many underweights and non-investors looking to ramp up allocations in the Energy sector as we shift to a new ownership regime.Analysis taken from our EM research, covering 247 active GEM funds with combined AUM of $500bn

Energy is a lightly held sector, a bit part player in a world dominated by Tech, Financials and the EM Consumer.  The average holding weight among the active EM funds in our analysis stands at just 3.81%, underweight the benchmark by -2.11% on average.The fact that nearly a quarter of active EM managers have no exposure to the Energy sector is perhaps the most telling statistic of just how under-owned the sector is.  Part of that reason, we believe, lies in the risk of not holding Energy when index weights are so low. With Oil prices at multi-year highs, the Energy sector has started to outperform in a big way, with EM Energy outperforming the broader MSCI EM index by over 30% over the last 12 months.  With just 22.7% of funds overweight the benchmark, active EM managers are feeling the pinch.  The risk of being underweight or avoiding the sector completely has moved significantly higher.One of the factors that has driven Energy to the margins of EM investment is the rise of secular growth opportunities in Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services.  Indeed, the current investor base in Energy is heavily skewed towards the Value and Yield end of the spectrum.  Instead, Aggressive Growth managers have rotated towards the secular growth opportunities within Packaged Software, Internet Retail, Biotechnology and Internet Software/Services.Can the lure of a cyclical growth opportunity such as Energy be enough to win back investment from Growth investors?  If Energy keeps outperforming it will undoubtedly push Growth investors to look for opportunities within the sector.  We identify 2 stocks that already have an investor base among both Aggressive Growth and Growth funds, whilst also appealing to Value investors.  As such, we would expect both to be on the shortlist of the many underweights and non-investors looking to ramp up allocations in the Energy sector as we shift to a new ownership regime.Analysis taken from our EM research, covering 247 active GEM funds with combined AUM of $500bn

United Kingdom

Gazprom PAO operates gas pipeline systems, produces and explores gas, and transports high pressure gas in the Russian Federation and European countries. The Company is also engaged in oil production, oil refining, gas storage, and electric and heat energy generation.

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Gazprom PJSC (OGZD LI)

EM Positioning After Russia’s Collapse

Russian overweight wiped out after initial phase of Russia drop. China underweight contracts on the back of natural portfolio adjustments.

Steven Holden

Russia: Echoes of the Past. Crimea Analysis and Positioning Update

Russia suffered a significant reallocation of capital during the Crimea Annexation of 2014. It took 2 years for sentiment to recover. This time...

Steven Holden

Screening for GEMs: January 2022

This insight provides an overview of our, machine learning-driven, proprietary GEM screening model, based on a Multifactor model, a Deep Neural...

Wium Malan, CFA

Continued Absence Of Breakdowns Is A Positive Sign; Many Bottoms-Up Stock Recommendations

As long as the Russell 2000 index (IWM) is above $208, the Russell Micro Caps index (IWC) is above $134-$135, and the S&P 500 is above 4495, we...

Vermilion Research

EM Energy: Regime Shift

A quarter of active EM managers have no exposure to the Energy sector and only 23% are overweight. With Oil prices at multi-year highs, active EM...

Steven Holden

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