EM Fund Stock Recommendations and Country Commentary (February 8, 2026)
Reality appears to be slowly creeping into the AI space, with some tweets that have caught my attention over the past week, starting with a long tweet about an AI doing some kind of freelance work found on Upwork.
The best-performing AI completed the task well enough to get paid 2.5% of the time.
Worst? 0.3%.
Think about it.
Any Uber driver who completes 2.5% of their trips will be kicked off the platform within a week.
This is not an anti-AI hit piece, but rather an academic study published in the Remote Labor Index.
I sat down with Julian Garran, one of the sharpest macro strategists I know, to explain why AI is “built to fail.”
Full interview:
The interview concluded that if you’re a money manager whose primary focus is monthly or quarterly performance to keep your job, you might want to stay in technology a little longer.
But if you’re a family office with a multi-generational time horizon, rather than focusing on the technology sector, you might want to look at natural resources and some emerging markets and move into those areas.
furthermore:
Meanwhile, Moltbook has been getting a lot of hype about Hal 9000 waiting to be released, but here’s some reality checks on what’s actually going on.
This tweet is also worth noting in the PE industry.
And finally, another reality check for the US dollar:
As of early February, some remaining December/Q4 and new January fund updates have been made available (a continuously updated post with all funds is available here; the November study has been removed). There are also new studies starting with non-EM works.
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🔬🌐 Don’t Burn the Boat: The Case for Selective AI Investments (Baillie Gifford) – gist
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AI-related stocks, despite their strong uptrend, do not show typical bubble characteristics.
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Safe stocks may actually carry greater valuation risk.
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Global Alpha focuses on persistent bottlenecks in the AI value chain and uses ruthless selectivity to avoid unproven business models.
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New Asia Fund Documents and Research
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🎙️🌏 Anatomy of an Asian Retail Investor (Under the Banyan Tree – HSBC Global Research) 17:46 Minutes – Herald Welcome Fellow Asia Stock Strategists Prerna Garg Visit the studio to discuss the role of retail investors in the region, how they are reshaping the investment landscape and where to invest your money.
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🎬🌏⏰ MWX Insights Session #3: How food delivery is reshaping F&B in Southeast Asia (Momentum Works) – February 12, 4-5 PM (GMT+8) – An executive briefing on how food delivery is reshaping F&B in Southeast Asia, and what this change means as online sales become the default. The session will also briefly refer to the findings of the newly released Southeast Asia Food Delivery Platforms 6.0 report for context on regional market dynamics. What you will learn
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How the role of food delivery is shifting from channels to infrastructure in Southeast Asia and other key markets
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How will this change if online orders take up a larger share of F&B sales?
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How competitive dynamics, discovery and unit economics evolve as delivery becomes more internalized
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When food delivery can support resilience and when it can expose structural weaknesses
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What these changes mean for platforms, F&B brands, enablers and the wider ecosystem
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🗄️🌏 Platinum Asia Fund’s January Monthly Fact Sheet (Detailed Economics and Portfolio) discussed Or mention:
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📈🇹🇼 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE: TSM) 🇼 🏷️
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📈🇰🇷🅿️ Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930 / 005935 / LON: BC94 / FRA: SSUN / OTCMKTS: SSNLF) 🇼 🏷️
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📈🇰🇷 SK Hynix (KRX:000660) – We manufacture, distribute, and sell semiconductor products in Korea, China, Asia, the United States, and Europe. DRAM, NAND storage products, SSD, MCP, and CMOS image sensors for server, networking, mobile, PC, consumer, and automotive applications. 🇼 🏷️
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📈🇰🇷 Soulbrain (KOSDAQ: 357780) – Semiconductor materials (CVD/ALD materials, etchants and cleaners, CMP slurries, plating agents, hydrofluoric acid/buffered oxide etchants, etc.). 🏷️
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📈🇨🇳 Weichai Power (SHE: 000338 / HKG: 2338 / FRA: WI4 / OTCMKTS: WEICF) 🇨🇳 – Development and manufacturer of diesel engine + forklift and non-diesel engine automobile parts. 🇼 🏷️
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📈🇨🇳 Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) – Video sharing website (animation, comics, games) + streaming platform that provides video on demand. 🇼 🏷️
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📈🇨🇳🏛️ LON: 1024 / OTTCMKTS: to be released) 🇾 – It is a partially state-owned content community and social platform and China’s first short video platform. 🇼 🏷️
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