About The Episode

If China is a benchmark for the scale of economic disruption caused by the coronavirus, the impact has been colossal. Industrial production declined by 13.5% year-over-year in January and February. Retail sales and auto sales declined by 20.5% and 37.0%, respectively, during the same period. Now that the peak of the outbreak seems to have passed in China, its economic growth is starting to recover, albeit at depressed levels.

About our Guest

Ken McAtamney is a portfolio manager for Chicago-based William Blair, and runs several of its flagship global funds.

In particular, Ken runs the William Blair International Leaders fund. The performance of that fund has been quite solid: 1-, 3- and 5-year numbers are all top quintile. From its August 17, 2012 inception through March 26, 2020, the fund returned 7.07% annually. That is more than 200 basis points greater than its Morningstar category average and 200 basis points greater than the MSCI ACWI ex-US index. It has held up well during the recent decline, off 16% YTD, which puts it in the top 30% of its peer group.

Show Notes

Here is a link to Ken’s most recent commentary, COVID-19 Implications: Updated Thinking, and here is a link to the Morningstar performance data on the fund that Ken co-manages, the William Blair International Leaders (WILNX).