Ask Jean-Louis Scandella which emerging market countries he likes, and he nearly gets angry. Macroeconomic punditry and “top down” country approaches are plentiful, as the developing world braces for the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate hike in years. But individual stocks are what matter to Scandella, head of equities at Baring Asset Management and co-manager of its emerging market portfolio strategy. He looks for growing companies, and is willing to pay a premium for them because there are few “sleeping beauties.”
