Emerging markets are reshaping the global economy, and a convergence of powerful, long-term trends is accelerating this shift. These include surging demand for commodities, exploding middle-class spending power and booming inter-regional trade.

Investment specialist Andrew Keiller reveals some of the standout growth companies positioned to capitalise on this transformation and why now might be the perfect time to take advantage.

Background:

Andrew Keiller is a partner in Baillie Gifford and an investment specialist in our Emerging Markets Clients Team.

In this episode, he discusses how some of the fastest-growing developing economies are driving change in the world and the forces that could further hasten that trend.

The discussion builds on his recent paper, Emerging markets in 2050: growth in a changing world, which identifies long-term structural shifts tilting the odds in favour of standout companies in Asia, Latin America and eastern Europe. In the podcast, he expands on this by identifying some of the companies that could be big winners, including:

the lithium miner SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile), which is set to benefit from a mismatch in supply and demand for the critical ingredient to electric car batteries and other energy storage systems
the South Korean high bandwidth memory chipmaker, SK Hynix, whose products are critical to training artificial intelligence systems at speed
the ‘super-app’ operator Kaspi.kz, which provides everything from bill payments, banking and travel bookings to shopping, maps and messaging
the Singaporean ecommerce, fintech and gaming conglomerate Sea, whose chief executive has ambitions to extend into further sectors
China’s biggest coffee chain, Luckin Coffee, which is giving the country’s 1.4 billion citizens a passion for the beverage with its ever-changing menu of inventive recipes

In addition, Keiller discusses the implications of President Trump’s tariffs and why many Chinese companies still offer an exciting investment opportunity.

Resources:

Emerging markets in 2050: growth in a changing world

Emerging markets: our philosophy

Emerging markets: rethinking the opportunity

Finding high-calibre growth companies in emerging markets (podcast)

Luckin Coffee: looking forward

Kaspi's super-app

South-east Asia’s rising export stars (podcast)

SQM: powering the future

The Time-Travelling Economist by Charlie Robertson

Companies mentioned include:

Kaspi.kz