July 24, 2005: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Investment: Stock Market: Philadelphia Inquirer: Nepal RPCV Brent Lynn turned the Janus Overseas Fund from one of the worst performers in its class into one of the best by raising the company's stake in emerging markets such as India and South Korea
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Nepal:
Peace Corps Nepal :
The Peace Corps in Nepal:
July 24, 2005: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Investment: Stock Market: Philadelphia Inquirer: Nepal RPCV Brent Lynn turned the Janus Overseas Fund from one of the worst performers in its class into one of the best by raising the company's stake in emerging markets such as India and South Korea
Nepal RPCV Brent Lynn turned the Janus Overseas Fund from one of the worst performers in its class into one of the best by raising the company's stake in emerging markets such as India and South Korea
"That's where we're finding the most attractive growth, the most dynamic businesses, and the most attractive valuations," said Lynn, 41, who has run the Overseas fund on his own for Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc. since 2003.
Nepal RPCV Brent Lynn turned the Janus Overseas Fund from one of the worst performers in its class into one of the best by raising the company's stake in emerging markets such as India and South Korea
Betting on emerging markets helps end poor performance
By Danielle Kost
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Brent Lynn turned the Janus Overseas Fund from one of the worst performers in its class into one of the best by raising the company's stake in emerging markets such as India and South Korea.
"That's where we're finding the most attractive growth, the most dynamic businesses, and the most attractive valuations," said Lynn, 41, who has run the Overseas fund on his own for Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc. since 2003.
Lynn has about 40 percent of the mutual fund's $2.2 billion invested in companies in the so-called emerging economies. That compares with 5 percent to 10 percent for most competing international funds, said Gareth Lyons, an analyst at Morningstar Inc., an industry research firm in Chicago.
The Janus Overseas Fund returned 27 percent in the last 12 months, ranking second after Saturna Investment Trust of 126 similarly managed funds tracked by Bloomberg. The fund remains an underperformer over the last five years, placing 78th of 90 funds.
Lynn said in an interview that he invested in "the heavy hitters of their industries" - those with market values of more than $10 billion that are reporting higher profit growth than their rivals. His fund has stakes in about 80 companies.
The biggest holdings include India's Reliance Industries Ltd., which runs the world's No. 3 oil refinery; Brazil's Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron-ore producer; and Kookmin Bank, South Korea's biggest lender.
Lynn has doubled the proportion of assets that the fund has in the emerging markets since he took over as sole manager from Helen Young Hayes two years ago. Hayes stepped down as investors withdrew money from Janus' funds because of subpar performance. The company has had net redemptions every month since June 2001.
"It's a big bet," said Morningstar's Lyons. "It's going to make the fund more volatile, but often the further you stray from the crowd, the better chance you have to outperform the crowd."
Since October, Lynn has bought more shares of Vale do Rio and Kookmin Bank. The emerging markets have been benefiting from economic growth and low interest rates, which have boosted consumer spending. India's economy, for instance, expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter, compared with 3.8 percent growth in the United States and 0.5 percent in Britain.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index, a measure of stocks in 26 countries, jumped 36 percent in the last year, more than doubling the 13 percent gain of the MSCI EAFE Index, a broader benchmark for international markets.
Companies in the emerging-markets index, which includes Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, probably will increase profits by an average of 12.5 percent this year, according to estimates from analysts at UBS AG.
Shares of Reliance Industries, the fund's biggest holding, gained 57 percent in the last year. The company has reported eight straight quarters of record profit. Its stock reached an all-time high last month after brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani agreed to split ownership of the company to resolve a feud.
Lynn also has been bullish on commodity stocks. Rio de Janeiro-based Vale do Rio Doce is the fund's No. 3 holding. The company is benefiting from rising iron ore prices amid demand from Chinese steelmakers. Shares of Vale do Rio Doce rose 55 percent in the last year.
The fund has increased investments in Samsung Electronics Co. and Kookmin Bank since October. Samsung, whose shares are up 33 percent in the last year, widened its lead as the world's largest maker of flash-memory chips used in consumer electronics last year, according to market researcher ISuppli Corp.
Shares of Kookmin Bank also have gained, rising 25 percent so far this year. The company in May said it expected to double its net income to $1 billion this year.
Lynn, who joined Janus in 1991, holds economics and industrial engineering degrees from Stanford University. After graduating from college, he spent two years teaching math and English in Nepal with the Peace Corps.
When this story was posted in July 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today. |
| July 8, 2005: PC suspends program in Gabon Peace Corps announced the suspension of the program in Gabon citing the high cost of the program. In addition, a 2003 Inspector General report documented safety and security costs of $1 million that would be necessary to keep the program operating successfully. Background: In 1998 Peace Corps Volunteer Karen Phillips was was found murdered in the weeds about 100 yards from her home in Oyem, Gabon. Her killer has never been brought to justice. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nepal; Investment; Stock Market
PCOL21392
66