Marketing Director, Asia Frontier Capital

Asia Frontier Capital

Marketing Director

Investing in high growth Asian frontier economies.

Asia Frontier Capital Ltd. is a pioneering fund management company based in Hong Kong that specializes in investing in high growth Asian frontier economies by managing the AFC Asia Frontier Fund , AFC Iraq Fund and the AFC Vietnam Fund.

The AFC Asia Frontier Fund invests in public equities of Asian frontier countries that are seeing increasing consumption due to favorable demographic trends, rising incomes and high GDP growth. The fund invests in listed equities of companies that have their principal business activities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Iraq, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The AFC Asia Frontier Fund is positioned to take advantage of the continuing economic shifts in these countries and offers high returns combined with significant diversification opportunities. This fund is directed by the founder and CEO of Asia Frontier Capital, Thomas Hugger, who has been investing in frontier markets across Asia and Africa for more than 20 years.

The AFC Iraq Fund was launched on the 26th June 2015 and aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation for investors by capturing value and growth potential in the post conflict high-growth & resource rich Iraq market. The fund emphasises long term investment horizon to truly capture the opportunity in Iraq. The fund's investable universe consists of locally listed companies that have their principal business activities in Iraq as well as foreign listed companies that have the majority of the business in Iraq as a whole including the prosperous Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). The AFC Iraq Fund offers access to investments in post conflict recovery potential of Iraq, including the KRI, and/or stability in its territory. The AFC Iraq Fund is managed by Asia Frontier Capital (Iraq) Limited, Cayman Islands under the executive leadership team of Thomas Hugger (CEO & Fund Manager) and Ahmed Tabaqchali (CIO) who have more than 47 years of investment experience as well as an extensive background covering global, emerging, frontier and MENA markets.

The AFC Vietnam Fund invests exclusively in listed Vietnamese equities to capture value in growth companies with a focus on the small to medium size companies. This market segment offers a unique investment opportunity as the valuation gap between large- and small-cap stocks in Vietnam is presently much wider than in comparable neighboring markets and the valuations are significantly depressed versus their regional peers. The fund adopts a fundamental-quantitative approach and employs an in-house earnings model to identify attractive companies where we see high growth opportunities. In conjunction with targeting the maximum upside potential the portfolio has been structured to mitigate corporate government and liquidity risks. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of 70-90 attractively valued companies to carefully control concentration risk.  This approach allows the fund to sell, or buy, positions without having a significant market impact. The fund is directed under the executive leadership of Thomas Hugger and Andreas Vogelsanger who have more than 50 years combined experience managing investments in frontier markets, Asia and around the world.

For more information about the fund, management team and investment strategy please contact us at info@asiafrontiercapital.com.

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul><li>The AFC Iraq Fund was up 15.9% in April, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was up 12.5% for the month.</li><li>For the year, the AFC Iraq Fund is up an estimated 47.9% outperforming the index’s increase of 36.7%.</li><li>The market and the fund’s solid performance for the second month in a row on the back of February’s super performance enhanced by a revalued currency, underscores the underlying strength of the market’s recovery that has discounted the currency’s upheaval, as discussed here recently, and is beginning to discount its stability. </li></ul>

The AFC Iraq Fund was up 15.9% in April, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was up 12.5% for the month.For the year, the AFC Iraq Fund is up an estimated 47.9% outperforming the index’s increase of 36.7%.The market and the fund’s solid performance for the second month in a row on the back of February’s super performance enhanced by a revalued currency, underscores the underlying strength of the market’s recovery that has discounted the currency’s upheaval, as discussed here recently, and is beginning to discount its stability. 

AFC Iraq Fund April 2023 Update: "Tag Ends of Currency Upheaval Sparks Market Rally"

<ul><li>The AFC Iraq Fund Class D shares returned +23.3% in February 2023 with a NAV of USD 833.91, underperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index (RSISUSD index), which gained 25.0% during the month.</li><li>The fund is up 22.6% year to date versus 18.8% for the index. Since inception, the fund has lost 16.6% while the RSISUSD index is down 37.6%.</li><li>The performance of the fund and the index were positively affected by two crucial decisions taken by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI).</li></ul>

The AFC Iraq Fund Class D shares returned +23.3% in February 2023 with a NAV of USD 833.91, underperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index (RSISUSD index), which gained 25.0% during the month.The fund is up 22.6% year to date versus 18.8% for the index. Since inception, the fund has lost 16.6% while the RSISUSD index is down 37.6%.The performance of the fund and the index were positively affected by two crucial decisions taken by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI).

AFC Iraq Fund Enjoys a Surprise Boost - Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) - February 2023 Update

CEO, ByteTree Asset Management

ByteTree Asset Management

Specialising in Bitcoin, Gold and Digital Assets

Investment Manager specialising in bitcoin, gold and digital assets

<ul><li>Over the past year, what was good for the US dollar was bad for the stockmarket.</li><li>The world’s reserve currency lubricates (or seizes up) financial markets.</li><li>A weak dollar is bullish, and a strong dollar, bearish. The dollar was strong (the euro weak) until September, and that put downward pressure on stocks. </li></ul>

Over the past year, what was good for the US dollar was bad for the stockmarket.The world’s reserve currency lubricates (or seizes up) financial markets.A weak dollar is bullish, and a strong dollar, bearish. The dollar was strong (the euro weak) until September, and that put downward pressure on stocks. 

<ul><li>The year began on a strong positive note for global equity markets and most AFC funds also had a positive return at the start of the year.</li><li>Investor sentiment continues to improve as confidence grows that we are at the peak of global inflation and interest rate hikes.</li><li>This was also evident in the less aggressive 25 basis point increase in interest rates by the U.S. Fed on 1st February 2023, as well as less hawkish messaging from the U.S. Fed in the past few weeks.</li></ul>

The year began on a strong positive note for global equity markets and most AFC funds also had a positive return at the start of the year.Investor sentiment continues to improve as confidence grows that we are at the peak of global inflation and interest rate hikes.This was also evident in the less aggressive 25 basis point increase in interest rates by the U.S. Fed on 1st February 2023, as well as less hawkish messaging from the U.S. Fed in the past few weeks.

Asian Frontier Markets Start the Year Strong - Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) - January 2023 Update

<ul><li>The AFC Iraq Fund was down 0.5% in January, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was down 5.0% for the month.</li><li>For the third month in a row, the decline in the parallel market’s price of the Iraqi Dinar (IQD) versus the US Dollar (USD) negatively affected the market’s performance by reversing the index’s 5.5% increase in IQD terms to a decline of 5.0% in USD terms, and the fund’s 9.0% increase in IQD terms into a 0.5% decline in USD terms.</li><li>However, unlike the prior two months, the market has started looking through and discounting the currency’s volatility as seen from the market action and, in particular, those of banks and industrial stocks – two groups that stand out as net beneficiaries of the depreciation of the market price of the IQD vs the USD.</li></ul>

The AFC Iraq Fund was down 0.5% in January, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was down 5.0% for the month.For the third month in a row, the decline in the parallel market’s price of the Iraqi Dinar (IQD) versus the US Dollar (USD) negatively affected the market’s performance by reversing the index’s 5.5% increase in IQD terms to a decline of 5.0% in USD terms, and the fund’s 9.0% increase in IQD terms into a 0.5% decline in USD terms.However, unlike the prior two months, the market has started looking through and discounting the currency’s volatility as seen from the market action and, in particular, those of banks and industrial stocks – two groups that stand out as net beneficiaries of the depreciation of the market price of the IQD vs the USD.

AFC Iraq Fund January 2023 Update: "Market Begins to Discount Currency Upheavals"

United States

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AFC Iraq Fund April 2023 Update: "Tag Ends of Currency Upheaval Sparks Market Rally"

The AFC Iraq Fund was up 15.9% in April, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was up 12.5% for the month.

Asia Frontier Capital

AFC Iraq Fund Enjoys a Surprise Boost - Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) - February 2023 Update

The fund is up 22.6% year to date versus 18.8% for the index. Since inception, the fund has lost 16.6% while the RSISUSD index is down 37.6%.

Asia Frontier Capital

The Dollar Is Back

Over the past year, what was good for the US dollar was bad for the stockmarket. The world’s reserve currency lubricates (or seizes up) financial...

ByteTree Asset Management

Asian Frontier Markets Start the Year Strong - Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) - January 2023 Update

The year began on a strong positive note for global equity markets and most AFC funds also had a positive return at the start of the year.

Asia Frontier Capital

AFC Iraq Fund January 2023 Update: "Market Begins to Discount Currency Upheavals"

The AFC Iraq Fund was down 0.5% in January, outperforming its benchmark, the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, which was down 5.0% for the month.

Asia Frontier Capital