Kuroto Fund, L.P. - Q1 2014 Letter
Dear Partners and Friends,
PERFORMANCE & PORTFOLIO
While the fund was not immune to the general market declines in the first two months of the year in Asia, it has fared better thus far in March. For the year to date through February, Kuroto Fund was down -4.0% while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined -2.3%. As of March 17, the fund is up +0.6% for the year.
Expanding the Mandate
We propose to expand Kuroto’s investment mandate from Asia to all emerging markets effective July 1, 2014. This is a logical extension that leverages the emerging markets expertise which we’ve developed over the years in Kuroto and in our global long/short fund, Equinox Partners, L.P. Moreover, it also allows us to capitalize on the persistent valuation discount between developed and emerging markets. As Kuroto’s investment universe will now be broader, we will also open the fund to additional capital. Kuroto will begin accepting up to $25 million of quarterly contributions from investors as of July 1, with the first $50 million reserved for current Kuroto investors. While our broader mandate expands Kuroto’s capacity, we will be careful not to allow our assets to exceed our opportunities.
We launched Kuroto in the wake of the Asia Crisis at a time when many countries within the region had experienced extreme declines in their economies and devaluations of their currencies. For instance, the Indonesian stock market fell over 90%, from peak to trough in USD terms, and traded at a single-digit multiple of depressed earnings. This exceptional investment opportunity justified a fund dedicated to Asia.
Today, Asia and its emerging markets are no longer the uniquely attractive opportunity they were at the fund’s launch. Moreover, Asian emerging markets are no more attractive than emerging markets globally. That being said, we do see a significant and unjustified valuation discrepancy between emerging and developed markets, as illustrated in the chart below.
Over the past three years, emerging market stocks have greatly underperformed their developed-market peers and emerging market currencies are currently trading close to their 2008 lows.[1] From concerns about China’s slowing growth to rising interest rates and geopolitical risk, the arguments against investing in emerging markets have once again surfaced for investors. Some pundits have even taken to describing emerging markets as “emergency” or “submerging” markets. Asian Tigers, such as India and Indonesia, are now members of the “Fragile Five.” Perhaps it’s not surprising then that during the first five weeks of 2014, investors removed more money from emerging market mutual funds and ETFs than they did in all of 2013.[2]
To be clear, not all emerging markets are attractive, but most of them have excellent long-term potential due to their high underlying growth rates, favorable demographics, and low levels of indebtedness. These positive fundamentals contrast sharply with the slow growth, deteriorating demographics, and high levels of indebtedness generally found in developed markets. As such, we do not expect developed markets to sell for a substantial premium to emerging markets indefinitely.
Kuroto’s expanded mandate provides us with an opportunity to do what we do best: analyze and invest in outstanding businesses and managements at significant discounts to their intrinsic value. In our global long/short fund, Equinox Partners, we have decades of experience applying our better-business value investing globally. Of particular relevance for Kuroto’s new mandate is our team’s extensive experience investing in South America, the Middle East, and businesses listed in the developed world which derive their profits primarily from the emerging world.
While we have already identified several attractive investment opportunities outside of Asia, Kuroto’s portfolio will only gradually begin to change after July 1 of this year. In fact, we expect the majority of the fund will still be invested in Asia at year’s end.
In the coming days, you will receive an updated offering document and a consent/representation letter. We ask your consent to broaden Kuroto’s mandate as well as to convert Kuroto to a 3(c)7 fund capable of accommodating more investors. Following the conversion to a 3(c)7 fund, all Kuroto investors must be “qualified purchasers.” Please review both documents and send the consent/representation letter back to us before the end of March.
As always, we look forward to speaking with you about any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Andrew Ewert
Sean Fieler
Daniel Gittes
William W. Strong











