Ashmore, the fund manager that invests in emerging market debt, shot to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard following a glowing broker note from UBS.
The bank analysts said Ashmore's shares had underperformed (losing 5% compared with its peers), while its funds had outperformed. They expect it to grow as emerging markets live up to their name and become more significant players in global financial markets. They said:
We see significant structural opportunities for growth in emerging market (EM) assets: i) as parts of EM become investment grade, this widens the range of addressable investors ii) the hunt for yield remains strong for liability-driven investors iii) EM corporate debt has the potential to become as big as sovereign debt iv) EM currencies appreciation.
The analysts upgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy' with a 420p price target, and added the fund manager to its "most preferred" list.
Hedge fund manager Man Group, meanwhile, had sharply contrasting fortunes, dropping 3% to become the FTSE 100's biggest faller. The shares have fallen 12% this week after disappointing recent performances by a couple of its hedge funds. They were down another 3% this morning at 119p.
The index just about managed to stay in positive territory, up by just 0.01% at 5704. The mid-cap index was 0.2% higher at 11379 points.
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