Emerging markets: Banking on change

Emerging Market banks aren’t often pictured as efficient, investor-friendly institutions. Yet Charlie Sunnucks, Fund Manager on Jupiter’s Global Emerging Markets team explains that if you look beyond the preconceptions, then there are a number of potentially hidden gems in an otherwise unloved sector.

Emerging market banks are often characterised as clunky state-run institutions, operating primarily for the domestic market, not minority investors. And, in many instances, this is the case.

However, there are exceptions. Across the board, there are those banks unwilling or unable to properly embrace change, but there are also those already positioned to profit from it, and so the prospects for individual banks in the sector are highly diverse. In fact, there are several structural drivers which mean that there can be attractive returns for those willing to differentiate.