Janus Capital International Ltd., a subsidiary of Janus
Capital Group Inc., and Causeway Capital Management LLC are separately looking to expand their global fund lineups, according to company officials.
While emerging markets have seen a great run in the past year, Janus and Causeway representatives said they believe some of the best investing opportunities going forward are in global funds, those that invest both in the United States and emerging markets.
“Some of the best opportunities are outside of the U.S, but there are also some great opportunities here,” said Gibson Smith, co-chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Janus Capital. “The ‘go global’ theme is here and is going to be here.’”
Janus Capital International is discussing launching global funds for offshore investors but hasn’t yet determined what they would look like, Mr. Smith said. The firm currently offers 17 global mutual funds to investors in Asia and Europe.
Causeway is discussing launching a global emerging-markets fund to provide investors with exposure to the United States as well as emerging markets, said Sarah Ketterer, portfolio manager and CEO.
Causeway has three funds: the Causeway International Value Fund Ticker:(CIWX), the Causeway Global Value Fund Ticker:(CGVX) and the Causeway Emerging Markets Fund Ticker:(CEMVX). Having an emerging-markets fund with U.S. exposure would enable the firm to take advantage of the local investing opportunities, Ms. Ketterer said.
Causeway will likely launch the global emerging-markets fund next year.
Giving managers more freedom to choose where they invest makes a lot of sense, said Bill Rocco, senior analyst at Morningstar Inc. However, advisers need to pay attention to what kind of companies are included in global portfolios, he said. “In this day and age, it can be hard to determine the difference between a French multinational and a U.S. multinational,” he said.
Also, advisers need to watch out for potential overlap when investing in global funds with U.S. exposure since their clients may already have holdings in U.S. large-cap-equity funds that own the same companies.
“You could potentially be paying more for the U.S. portion of the portfolio,” he said.
