EM Fund Stock Recommendations and Country Commentary (May 24, 2026)

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Since the end of May, a number of April (and some remaining Q1) fund updates have been made available (and updated on an ongoing basis). The post with all the funds is here .) This post introduces what is available, along with some new research (next weekend’s post will cover fund research from the past few weeks).

🗄️🌐 Abrdn Asia Focus PLC (theory: AAS) april Monthly fact sheets (detailed economic and portfolio) For high-conviction portfolios of Asian small caps discussed or mentioned:
Asia Frontier Capital There was something like this: april Fund updates:
- 🗄️🌏 AFC Asia Frontier Fund‘s monthly newsletter (detailed economics and portfolio – Asia Frontier Market Rebounds Strongly in April-April 2026 Update) Ruchir Desai, the fund’s co-fund manager, was in Dhaka, Bangladesh in April and met across industries such as banking, consumer goods, construction materials and telecoms, who are very optimistic about a strong economic rebound (once the Iran war ends). Positive results were achieved in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Performers/transactions with or without names discussed or mentioned (you can guess):
  - 📈🇻🇳 Nickel miners in Vietnam
  - 📈🇵🇰 Stock Exchange Operator of Pakistan (🇵instagram pakistan stock exchange (PSX: thick) – PSX is 40% owned by a consortium of Chinese investors (Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and China Financial Futures Exchange) and 60% owned by the general public. 🇼 🏷️)
  - 📈🇵🇰 Tobacco producers in Pakistan
  - 📈🇬🇪 Georgian Bank
  - 📈🇬🇪 Another Georgia Bank
- 🗄️🇮🇶 AFC Iraq Fund‘S april Newsletter (Economy and Portfolio) We discussed the significant dividends announced by two of the top three banks in the market and some of the characteristics of the securities regulations or markets that make large dividends possible. Stocks mentioned or discussed:
  - 📈🇮🇶 Mansour Bank (BMNS)
  - 📈🇮🇶 National Bank of Iraq (BNOI)
  - 📈🇮🇶 Bank of Baghdad (BBOB)
  - 📈🇮🇶 Asia Cell Communications (TASC)
  - 📈🇮🇶 Baghdad Soft Drinks (IBSD)
- 🗄️🇺🇿 AFC Uzbekistan Fund‘S april newsletter We discussed the preparations/official launch of the long-awaited Uzbekistan National Investment Fund (UzNIF) IPO, the boom in the bond market and the next stock(?), and the AFC Uzbekistan Tour 2026 (end of September 2026).
- 🗄️🇻🇳 AFC Vietnam Fund‘S april newsletter Market developments discussed, Vietnam upgraded to emerging market by FTSE Russell, US-Iran dispute, new government successfully formed, strong start to 2026 with GDP growth at 15-year high, key economic drivers and broad-based growth across 1^castle 2026 Quarterly Earnings and AGM Update. Stocks discussed or mentioned:
🗄️🎬🌏 Asia Frontier Market Update May 12, 2026 (Asia Frontier Capital) 1:16:05 minutes

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