Ashmore Group has positive points, but implications of an aggressive investment approach and persistent questions around succession lead to a Parent rating downgrade to Average from Above Average.
Ashmore has focused on emerging markets since its beginning. In 1999, CEO and CIO Mark Coombs and a small group of colleagues formed Ashmore when they bought out an emerging-markets debt strategy that they helped start in 1992. Coombs remains at the helm as CEO and CIO, and although he has begun reducing his stake in the public company’s stock through employee grants, uncertainties remain around how he will transition leadership to the next generation.
Beyond Coombs, Ashmore boasts long-tenured local expertise in many individual emerging markets, a trait that remains one of the firm's most positive attributes. Its considerable boots-on-the-ground presence provides investment teams with local expertise in several global markets and has helped the firm develop close contacts with various government officials—a benefit considering how important economic and fiscal analysis is to the firm's strategies.
However, the implications of Ashmore's generally aggressive investment approach continue to be on display. Although the firm's risk management function makes portfolio managers aware of their exposures, many funds continue to be highly concentrated—a condition that can be exacerbated when redemptions are high and which often produces more volatile results, even by emerging-markets standards. Net performance has suffered relative to peers, and more than half of its funds have lagged most respective Morningstar Category peers over the trailing five-year period through May 2025. Partly a function of emerging-markets investments being out of favor, the firm has endured significant outflows since the end of 2021, and firmwide assets under management fell to less than USD 50 billion as of March 2025. High fees exacerbate the performance challenges: Nearly three-fourths of share classes carry above-average expenses.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Ashmore (Branding Name ID: BN000007ZS), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
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