Emerging markets boast top-quality growth stocks at bargain prices

The Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust engages in bottom-up stockpicking to find great businesses at attractive valuations across emerging markets. The trust runs a portfolio that is generally balanced relative to the benchmark to reduce macro risks; stock selection drives performance.

Stocks are selected by a dedicated team of investment professionals and go through an internally developed framework assessing companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG). The trust focuses on maintaining a well-diversified portfolio rather than making big individual bets on companies, sectors or countries.

Samsung Electronics (Seoul: 005930) is a South Korean leader in technology with strong positions in semiconductors, smartphones, displays and other electronic devices. In the computer-memory market, Samsung remains a major player in both the DRAM and NAND subsectors, with scale and cost advantages built over decades. The surge in demand for AI servers is driving higher memory content, providing structural growth opportunities.

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Samsung’s foundry business is expanding through areas such as 3-nanometer process node (3nm): an advanced stage of semiconductor manufacturing where transistors are built in minute sizes. The group is therefore now in a position to capture market share beyond memory.

In smartphones, the company holds a leading position with its Galaxy series and is the pioneer in foldable devices, while its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display business continues to benefit from increasing penetration into mobile and IT products. Backed by diversified revenue streams, consistent investment in research and development (R&D), and exposure to long-term themes such as AI, digitalisation and electrification, Samsung Electronics is well placed to compound value over the long term.

Growth stocks and the AI boom

Delta Electronics (Taipei: 2308) is the leading switching power supply company globally. It serves a wide range of markets such as telecom base stations, console games, PCs and servers. The industry is characterised by high barriers to entry with know-how built up over decades of experience. Recent growth has been driven by AI servers, which require a far higher power supply than conventional ones. New generations of AI servers have even higher power requirements. Beyond AI, Delta is also present in areas such as factory automation and supplying power trains for electric vehicles, demonstrating management’s ability to identify new opportunities.

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is a Chinese company specialising in e-commerce, cloud computing and digital media with a diverse business portfolio both in China and globally. It is the market leader in domestic e-commerce, payments and cloud infrastructure. Alibaba has an enduring competitive advantage thanks to its integrated ecosystem and substantial economies of scale, conferring pricing power and facilitating attractive incremental returns on capital.

In e-commerce, opportunities include rising e-commerce penetration in China and greater opportunities to monetise advertising. Surging demand for AI in China has accelerated cloud migration, bolstering Alibaba’s position as the go-to cloud infrastructure provider. Capable management also makes Alibaba an appealing long-term holding.

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