Emerging markets offer exciting investment opportunities, but successfully navigating this landscape requires both experience and expertise. In a new series from VEF, our CIO, Alexis Koumoudos, shares key insights and learnings from the markets we invest in.
Joining VEF in 2016 as employee number two, CIO Alexis Koumoudos has played a key role in building our portfolio and shaping the investment processes from VEF’s foundation. His role involves overseeing the investment process, managing the investment team, prioritizing pipeline opportunities, and serving on the board of several portfolio companies. With extensive experience from investing in emerging markets, particularly in Latin America, Alexis shares his journey and insights into navigating these dynamic markets in the interview below.
How did you start your journey in emerging markets investing?
My own background has always fueled my passion for emerging markets. Born in South Africa, raised and educated in the UK, and with strong Greek heritage, I consider myself a citizen of the world. My career has taken me across diverse regions, and I find great fulfilment in learning about different cultures, market dynamics, and meeting incredible people.
Prior to joining VEF, I spent five years as a partner at Skyline Capital Management, where I focused on investing in public equities across emerging markets, particularly in Latin America. My work involved identifying growth opportunities in Brazil, Mexico and other high-potential markets. It’s this combination of experiences and my deep-rooted passion for emerging markets that drives my work at VEF.
From a long-term perspective, why are emerging markets interesting to invest in?
I’m a firm believer that emerging markets present some of the most exciting investment opportunities globally. The scale, growth, and innovation of these markets are what make them so attractive to us at VEF.
Emerging markets are home to 85% of the world’s population, including some of the largest countries like India, which has surpassed 1.4 billion people. The scale of the total addressable market these geographies offer is particularly compelling – teams with big visions building into scale opportunities can lead to very large outcomes.
Additionally, emerging markets benefit from highly favorable demographics. With younger populations and lower dependency ratios, they consistently rank among the top in global GDP growth, and are well-positioned to sustain robust economic growth for a long time to come.
What’s especially exciting is how emerging markets are leapfrogging more traditional technologies. Here, innovation often starts from first principles, with problem-solving focused on creating entirely new solutions rather than just improving existing ones. This enables emerging markets to bypass outdated technologies seen in developed countries and jump directly into more advanced, scalable solutions.
What is important to keep in mind when investing in emerging markets, as opposed to developed markets?
Investing in emerging markets requires an awareness of certain dynamics that are less prominent in developed markets, as these regions typically carry higher risk. While each market we invest in has its unique characteristics, many share common challenges that demand careful consideration. Factors such as currency volatility, interest rate fluctuations, and regulatory or political changes can significantly influence our investment decisions.
Experience plays a crucial role in navigating these complexities, and the insights gained from one market or investment informs our approach in other. Furthermore, our experience of the various technologies, business models, trends and regulatory environments in fintech allows us to provide valuable support to our portfolio companies. We have a unique position in this regard, and our experience keeps compounding.
Finally, the complexities of emerging markets actually create a unique advantage for us: competition among capital providers is much lower, meaning we have greater access to high-quality companies. Venture capital flows to these regions are far smaller than in developed markets – about a third of the total and just a seventh if we exclude China – with few truly dedicated to these markets. This relative lack of competition in an investment universe that encompasses 85% of the world’s population and the fastest-growing regions highlights the significant potential for returns compared to developed markets.
In our next piece, we’ll share insights and lessons learned from our extensive experience investing across emerging markets.