Ashoka WhiteOak celebrates its three-year anniversary of trading on the Main Market
Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust plc (‘AWEM’ or the ‘Company’) this week celebrates its three-year anniversary of trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, under the ticker AWEM.
Following the successful initial public offering in May 2023, AWEM was the first equities-focused investment trust launched since October 2018 and has now doubled in size to over £61 million in Total Net Assets, through capital appreciation and multiple subsequent tap issuances. Since IPO, AWEM’S NAV per share has increased by 15.93% on an annualised basis (as of 31st March 2026).
The Company provides differentiated exposure to emerging market equities through a bottom-up strategy with a clear emphasis on under-researched small- and mid-cap companies (SMIDs). Since launch in May 2023, AWEM has navigated often difficult and volatile periods for the asset class, yet overall outperformed its benchmark, with returns driven primarily by stock selection.
AWEM’s Investment Adviser, White Oak Capital Group, has £5.03 billion in assets under management or advisory and employs one of the largest EM analyst teams. Notably, the Investment Adviser is remunerated solely as a function of AWEM’s outperformance over the benchmark.
Marex is the Company’s corporate broker and Burson Buchanan acts as its financial PR adviser.
“We remain extremely grateful to our shareholders for their support since IPO and for subsequent equity issues. The Investment Manager’s disciplined portfolio construction has ensured that the portfolio’s valuation has held up robustly throughout the recent geopolitical and capital markets turbulence. We firmly believe in the considerable attractions of Emerging Markets as an asset class, given how relatively cheap and under-owned they remain and the London Stock Exchange provides a perfect platform for investors to access this via AWEM.”
Martin Shenfield
Chairman of Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust PLC
