The Question Is...

Since easing measures started in the spring of 2020, the Big 4 central banks have purchased a total of $800 million in securities every hour of every day, and many emerging markets have experimented with quantitative easing ̶ a once unthinkable development. In this episode, Ron Temple and Aristotel Kondili, a Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst specializing in emerging markets currencies, debt, and macroeconomics, discuss whether global central bankers can ever stop easing ̶ and whether it even matters.

If Japanese executives were more afraid of losing their jobs, it might actually be good for Japanese equities. Scott Anderson, a Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Japanese equities platform, discusses the Toshiba scandal, which resulted in the resignation of the CEO and rare dismissal of the Chairman of the Board earlier this year, as well as Japan’s complex history with governance.

Is higher-than-expected inflation a sign of healthy economic growth or a potential spoiler? Or, are rising consumer prices indicative of nothing more than a transitory snapback from the pandemic? Host Ron Temple and David Alcaly, a Senior Vice President and Research Analyst at Lazard Asset Management, discuss which factors they are watching to assess how rising prices may affect markets going forward and the challenging task the US Federal Reserve faces in keeping inflation at a desirable level.

As Chinese bonds are added to global indices, many investors are set to see the country become a much bigger part of their emerging markets debt allocations. But with an economy second in size only to the United States and a flourishing technology sector, does China really belong in the emerging category? Arif Joshi, a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard’s Emerging Markets Debt team, talks with Ron Temple about how investors should think about Chinese debt.

Twenty years ago, one thing predicted whether or not an emerging markets company would be successful: its access to plentiful capital. But things have changed dramatically, according to Rohit Chopra, a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Emerging Markets Equity team. Investors now need to consider a host of factors, including the competence of the management team, the runway for growth, valuations, and macroeconomic context. In this episode, Ron talks to Rohit about how investors can think about companies in the increasingly complex and fast-changing developing world.

What if we could prevent expensive, debilitating diseases such as diabetes or kidney disease instead of treating them? Or cure cancer instead of battling it? Ryan Hutchinson, a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on our Digital Health strategy, tells host Ron Temple why he believes an explosion in the availability and quality of biological data is about to transform the health care industry, with vast implications for both established players and newcomers. Or, as he put it, why he believes the large pharmaceutical companies of the future are in the incubation stage today.

Ask investors where to find the most exciting growth story in emerging markets, and many would point to technology companies such as Alibaba or Meituan. However, Terrence Gray, a Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Bottom Billion strategy, tells host Ron Temple why he believes the greatest untapped potential in emerging markets lies in the companies that cater to the 2 billion people who are poised to move out of poverty and into the middle class over the next 20 years.

As Lazard’s Co-Head of Sustainable Investment & ESG, Nikita Singhal hears a lot of ideas about the fast-evolving field of sustainable investing ̶ and not all of them are correct. In this episode, she discusses five of the most pervasive myths with host Ron Temple. Find out why investors don’t have to choose between returns and sustainability, how sustainable investing has evolved to be about much more than a set of subjective personal values, and why the movement to incorporate sustainability into investment considerations is not a passing fad.

For the last decade, emerging markets equities have offered investors high volatility and low returns. However, Rohit Chopra, a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Emerging Markets Equity team believes that emerging markets equities are still one of the most exciting places to invest on the planet. Emerging economies have favorable demographics compared to the fast-aging developed markets, emerging markets companies are in some cases leapfrogging Western technology with their own innovations, and emerging markets stocks are available at a huge discount.

Convertible bond issuance is soaring. The securities offer investors the ability to capture the upside when a company’s stock price is rising and fall back on bond-like defenses in times of trouble. Arnaud Brillois, a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager Analyst on the Global Convertibles team, tells Ron Temple why the bonds are so popular lately, how European and US markets differ, and why investors who want to play in the convertibles market need to read the fine print and pay attention.