Emerging markets are outperforming many developed economies as investors look beyond North America for growth opportunities. Artificial intelligence infrastructure spending is creating new opportunities in technology-focused markets, while rising incomes continue to support consumer demand in countries such as India.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Divya Mathur, portfolio manager of the Emerging Markets Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, about opportunities in South Korea, Taiwan and India, and why she believes emerging markets remain attractive for long-term investors.
Key Takeaways
- South Korea and Taiwan remain key beneficiaries of global AI infrastructure spending through technology companies with strong competitive positions.
- Demand for advanced memory products is supporting opportunities for companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung as AI adoption accelerates.
- Taiwan’s Delta Electronics is benefiting from growing demand for power management and cooling systems used in AI servers and data centres.
- India’s expanding middle class and rising incomes continue to create opportunities for consumer-focused businesses and premium brands.
- Titan is gaining market share in India’s fragmented jewellery industry as consumers increasingly gravitate toward established brands.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: As geopolitical tensions, economic concerns and elevated chip valuations weigh on North American markets, could emerging markets offer a timely opportunity for investors? For insight, we turn to Divya Mathur, portfolio manager on emerging markets at ClearBridge. Divya, thank you very much for joining us. Can you hear us?
DIVYA: Hi. Yep, I can hear you.
ROGER: Okay, good. Awesome. Thank you very much for joining us. Emerging markets, I mean, there are a lot of opportunities. South Korea is, I think, the one everybody’s looking at right now. Where are you looking when you’re talking? Are there certain areas, certain regions you’re looking within that, or just the broader picture?
DIVYA: Well, we look at all the emerging markets, and you’re quite right to highlight South Korea and also Taiwan as well, because those two countries are particularly benefiting from this strong global AI infrastructure rollout that we’re seeing globally. Over the years that I’ve been invested in emerging markets, what we’re seeing is a real movement to high IP, high intellectual property, into emerging markets, and South Korea and Taiwan have some of the leading companies operating in the technology space. So, for us, South Korea and Taiwan are two areas where we’re finding lots of interesting opportunities for the long run.
ROGER: And with that run that they’ve seen, obviously you feel there’s more room. With South Korea, though, is it not essentially focused on two key stocks?
DIVYA: Yeah, the South Korean market is quite narrow in terms of the number of companies that are outperforming, but they are highlighted around the two memory companies in particular, SK Hynix and Samsung. What we’re seeing here, and I’ve been looking at these memory names for nearly 20 years, is a very different operating environment for these companies. These companies are moving from being quite cyclical companies with short cycles to being more long-duration in nature because of what we’re seeing. The importance of memory in AI infrastructure is so crucial, and because there is a shortage, it’s creating good opportunities for these two companies. So yes, these two companies are doing particularly well, but unlike maybe some other parts of the tech market, valuations are still looking attractive for the memory sector. I think there’s a myth that these memory companies are very much like they were historically, which is highly cyclical and very uncertain. I think what we’re having is a transition at the moment where we’re seeing their longer-term path being defined, and we’re expecting more news in this space to clarify and confirm that fact.
ROGER: And now you’re leaning towards Hynix, though.
DIVYA: We own Hynix and we own Samsung, both in the portfolio. We think both of those names have a very good opportunity. You can’t create supply overnight. There’s a huge amount of demand for memory, so as a subsector of technology, we find both of those names are in the right place, certainly for the medium to longer term.
ROGER: And moving over to Taiwan, you’re liking Delta Electronics there.
DIVYA: Yeah, so what is always important in investing is diversity and diversifying your exposure, and even with the AI infrastructure theme, we are looking to do that. Delta Electronics has two very important skill sets: power management and thermal management. They have a history of having high market shares when they were involved in PCs, TVs and general servers, and they’ve taken that skill and applied it to AI servers. They have a 70 per cent market share in power supplies for servers, and as we know, as these servers become more powerful, they require more power, and Delta benefits from that. At the same time, we know there’s an issue with cooling in data centres. You need to cool the environment of the data centre and also at the rack level, and that again is where Delta has high expertise. So they have found themselves in a very strong position. Their track record, and again this is a company we’ve followed for 20 years, has always been one of solid execution, and they’re commanding quite high market shares now in this space. It’s slightly different from the semiconductor side, but again, it’s a really strong opportunity for them going forward.
ROGER: Okay, and we’re going to move over to India and Titan Industries. It doesn’t sound like they should be making machines somewhere, but they’re actually jewellers.
DIVYA: Exactly. And one market that I think has been forgotten in this AI infrastructure rush at the moment is the Indian market. When you think of India, you think more of a traditional emerging market. You think of that strong domestic market in terms of domestic growth, and Titan is a jewellery retailer. Obviously, gold is very important from an Indian cultural perspective, but they have also started to do more higher-value-added items like diamonds as well. The reality is that the jewellery market in India is still very fragmented. It’s still dominated by smaller players, which gives great opportunities for well-established brands like Titan to take market share, and that’s what it’s doing. Its market share is growing slowly every year, but that is creating some great opportunities. When we think of emerging markets, we think of India. This is a country with rising incomes. A lot of wealth is being created, and that is going to be spent on luxury items, of which jewellery is one. Again, Titan has had fantastic execution in terms of performing in the Indian market. They’ve grown sales over the last 10 years at around 20 per cent per year and profit slightly higher. They are very good operators in that market with a very long pathway for growth.
ROGER: Okay, Divya, we have to wrap it up there. But thank you for joining us.
DIVYA: Thank you.
ROGER: Divya Mathur, portfolio manager on emerging markets at ClearBridge.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the June 11, 2026 interview with Divya Mathur are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
