Finding value funds - Money To The Masses

Following my recent research article "The cheapest stock markets and sectors – August 2023" I received a great question in August's chatterbox which I've quoted below.

"Loved reading your latest article – “The cheapest stock markets and sectors – August 2023”.

Question is how do you find a fund that takes advantage of Value? When I look at Global Funds they all seem to be fully stocked up on the US market. All other markets they just hold a few percent."

The question raises an interesting point that it's not easy finding funds that have exposure to certain geographies or sectors outside of the biggest stock markets such as the US.

There are of course single country ETFs that exist that invest in specific countries such as Indonesia. You can find some of these in the best funds by sector tables. However, it is obviously much higher risk to invest in a single country or sector. Instead most investors will want to take advantage of value by utilising diversified funds, that perhaps invest in a range of geographies, but that also have above average exposure to a certain country or sector offering value.

As the question suggested, sometimes you may not be able to find funds that have more than a few percentage points exposed to a particular theme. However, often you can find a solution if you look hard enough. So in this research article I've analysed two thousand unit trusts to produce a shortlist of those equity funds that have the greatest exposure to the cheapest countries and sectors as identified in the aforementioned research article.

The purpose of the shortlists is not in any way to provide a recommendation or identify funds that may have momentum but instead to provide a starting point for further research if you want to increase your exposure to key sectors or countries.

To make this article easier to navigate I've included jump links below which will take you straight to the relevant section in the article that relates to the country or sector you are interested in.

I have deliberately not included the UK or Japan (which are cheap according to CAPE) as there are official unit trust sectors that are solely exposed to these regions which you can find in the BFBS tables.

Sectors

Basic Materials
Communication Services
Financials
Healthcare
Real Estate

Brazil

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Brazil exposure
Liontrust - Latin America	JAYO	Latin America	61
abrdn - Latin American Equity	MNI9	Latin America	60
CT - Latin America	TH47	Latin America	58
Baillie Gifford - Emerging Markets Leading Companies	B462	Global Emerging Markets	14
MI Somerset - Emerging Markets Dividend Growth	INE9	Global Emerging Markets	13

China

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% China exposure
Baillie Gifford - China	CSF4	China/Greater China	100
Liontrust - China	GQLG	China/Greater China	89
Jupiter - China	J244	China/Greater China	88
Fidelity - China Consumer	GMTP	China/Greater China	87
FSSA - All China	NONY	China/Greater China	83
CT - China Opportunities	T154	China/Greater China	83
Invesco - China Equity (UK)	FCV4	China/Greater China	65
FSSA - Greater China Growth	QI57	China/Greater China	53
Ninety One - Asia Pacific Franchise	AED1	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	41
FTF - Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained	CHMS	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	39

Germany

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Germany exposure
Schroder - European Recovery	KR14	Europe Excluding UK	31
abrdn - Europe ex UK Smaller Companies	A5X1	European Smaller Companies	26
SVM - Continental Europe	S520	Europe Excluding UK	26
Invesco - European Equity Income (UK)	AUT1	Europe Excluding UK	25
Fidelity - Sustainable European Equity	GMTU	Europe Excluding UK	23

Indonesia

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Indonesia exposure
FSSA - Asia All Cap	M8LM	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	11
BNY Mellon - Emerging Income	I03W	Global Emerging Markets	10
Baillie Gifford - Pacific	BG67	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	8
BNY Mellon - Asian Income	GTHM	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	7
Liontrust - Emerging Markets	GQLF	Global Emerging Markets	7

Malaysia

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Malaysia exposure
L&G - Pacific Index Trust	LT92	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	3
Guinness - TB Guinness Asian Equity Income	HVBO	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	3
iShares - Pacific ex Japan Equity Index (UK)	G6IF	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	3
HSBC - Pacific Index	HC55	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	3
MI Somerset - Emerging Markets Discovery	QDI0	Global Emerging Markets	2

Mexico

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Mexico exposure
Liontrust - Latin America	JAYO	Latin America	33
CT - Latin America	TH47	Latin America	33
abrdn - Latin American Equity	MNI9	Latin America	29
FSSA - Global Emerging Markets Focus	PBNJ	Global Emerging Markets	10
UBS - Global Emerging Markets Equity	G5QS	Global Emerging Markets	8

Poland

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Poland exposure
SVS - Aubrey Europe Ex	U6X8	Europe Excluding UK	10
abrdn - Global Real Estate	TP97	Property Other	6
abrdn - Global Focused Equity	10G8	Global	4
SVS - Aubrey Global Conviction	K528	Global	4
Baillie Gifford - European	BG87	Europe Excluding UK	3

South Africa

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% South Africa exposure
Fidelity - Emerging Markets	JAZJ	Global Emerging Markets	7
Schroder - Global Emerging Markets	0HCX	Global Emerging Markets	7
Omnis Investments Ltd - Omnis Global Emerging Markets Equity Leaders	QJVV	Global Emerging Markets	7
Royal London - Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Equity Tracker	QBNI	Global Emerging Markets	6
UBS - Global Emerging Markets Equity	G5QS	Global Emerging Markets	6

South Korea

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Korea exposure
Barings - Korea Trust	BO37	Specialist	99
State Street - Asia Pacific Ex	G656	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	31
Invesco - Emerging Markets ex China (UK)	FCV5	Global Emerging Markets	24
iShares - Pacific ex Japan Equity Index (UK)	G6IF	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	21
HSBC - Pacific Index	HC55	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	20
M&G - Global Emerging Markets	0ZE0	Global Emerging Markets	19
Invesco - Asian (UK)	Z497	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	17
Barings - Eastern Trust	BO11	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	17
Baillie Gifford - Emerging Markets Growth	BG65	Global Emerging Markets	16

Sweden

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Sweden exposure
SVS - Dowgate Wealth European Growth	LZUC	Europe Excluding UK	21
Baillie Gifford - European	BG87	Europe Excluding UK	19
Stewart Investor - European (ex UK) Sustainability	H7HI	Europe Excluding UK	17
Schroder - European	0HDD	Europe Excluding UK	15
Allianz - Continental European	129K	Europe Excluding UK	15

Thailand

Fund	Citi Code	Sector	% Thailand exposure
MI Somerset - Asia Income	0RHP	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	7
Fidelity - Asian Dividend	JE9N	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	6
Invesco - Global Emerging Markets (UK)	FCV2	Global Emerging Markets	5
Allianz - Total Return Asian Equity	BKB9	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	4
Invesco - Emerging Markets ex China (UK)	FCV5	Global Emerging Markets	4

Sector exposure

In the research article "The cheapest stock markets and sectors – August 2023" the sector analysis related to the US stock market, but it does still have some relevance to global stock markets. As such under each section below I've provided two tables, one relating just to US equity funds and another relating to non-US specific funds.