Rohit Chopra is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Emerging Markets Equity team, focusing on consumer and telecommunications research and analysis. He began working in the investment field in 1996. Prior to joining the Firm in 1999, Rohit was with Financial Resources Group, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. He has a BS in Finance and Information Systems from New York University and also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Rohit has been accepted as a Young Global Leader (YGL) in 2016 by the World Economic Forum, which engages the top political, business.

James Donald is a Managing Director and Head of Emerging Markets and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Emerging Markets Equity team. He is also a member of the International Equity Select with Emerging Markets team. Since joining Lazard in 1996, James has been instrumental in developing and coordinating the emerging markets activities at Lazard. He began working in the investment field in 1983. Prior to joining Lazard, James was a Portfolio Manager with Mercury Asset Management. He has a BA (Hons) in history from the University of Western Ontario. James is a CFA® charterholder.

Monika Shrestha is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Emerging Markets Equity team, responsible for research coverage of companies in the financials sector. She began working in the investment field in 1997. Prior to joining Lazard in 2003, Monika was a principal at Waterview Advisors and a Corporate Finance Analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BSE in Computer Science and Engineering and a BS in Economics (with a concentration in Finance) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Semple joined VanEck in 1998. He serves as Portfolio Manager for VanEck’s Emerging Markets Equity Strategy and oversees the Emerging Markets Equity Team. He is responsible for company research, stock selection, and portfolio construction. Mr. Semple is a veteran of emerging markets investing. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Semple was a portfolio manager for Asian-focused funds and served on the team sub-advising VanEck’s VIP Emerging Markets Fund at Peregrine Asset Management (Hong Kong). From 1993 to 1996, he served as sales director and regional strategist at Peregrine Brokerage. Prior to 1993, Mr. Semple was a portfolio manager specializing in Asia equity markets at Murray Johnstone (Glasgow). Mr. Semple is a member of the CFA Institute and the Association of Investment Management and Research. He received a Bachelor of Law with Honours from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has had numerous media appearances, including CNBC, Bloomberg, and NPR. Additionally, he was quoted in Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Barron’s, among others.

Mr. Shillington joined VanEck in 2009. He serves as Deputy Portfolio Manager for VanEck’s Emerging Markets Equity Strategy. With extensive experience in Asia and broad emerging markets equity, his current responsibilities include company and macroeconomic research relating to these regions, with a particular emphasis on Asia. Prior to joining VanEck, Mr. Shillington was Head of International Equity for ABN AMRO in New York with, among other things, oversight for equity sales and trading. Prior to moving to New York in 2001 to become Managing Director and head of Asian equity and derivatives distribution in the U.S. at BNP Paribas, he held senior management positions as a Director at both Paribas in Los Angeles and, internationally, at UBS Securities in Hong Kong, and in private client management at Hill Samuel/BLW in Edinburgh, Scotland. In his roles in both research and portfolio management, Mr. Shillington has developed a specialized focus on many Asian markets, a region in which he continues to be deeply involved.

Jennifer Hsui, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager at BlackRock Investment Management LLC has been employed by BlackRock Fund Advisors as a senior portfolio manager since 2007. Prior to that, Ms. Hsui was a portfolio manager from 2006 to 2007 for BGFA. She was a research analyst for RBC Capital Markets from 2003 to 2006.

Ganesh Ramachandran is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst specializing in emerging markets currency and debt. Ganesh has been a member of the Emerging Income management team since early 2001. He began working in the investment field in 1997 when he joined the Firm. Ganesh has his MBA from the University of Rochester, Simon School of Business and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras.

Divya is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy, with responsibility for technology sector research. He joined Martin Currie in 2010 from SWIP. As sector analyst, he was responsible for stocks across the technology and utilities sectors in emerging markets. Earlier, Divya spent over a decade at Henderson Global Investors in London, before managing GEM and dedicated Indian equity portfolios for eight years. Divya has an MSc in investment analysis from the University of Stirling and a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and Accounting from the University of Manchester.

Alastair has been investing in equities for almost 30 years. He joined Martin Currie in 2010, when Martin Currie expanded its commitment to the Emerging Market asset class. In addition to managing investment portfolios and conducting investment research, Alastair is also responsible for the overall management of our Emerging Markets team. During his career, Alastair has managed a broad range of emerging market equity strategies, including frontier markets and small caps. Prior to Joining Martin Currie, Alastair worked at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, Edinburgh Fund Managers and Scottish Amicable Investment Management. He is an associate of the UK Society of Investment Professionals (ASIP), the predecessor of the CFA Society of the UK.

Andrew is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy. He has had responsibility for researching stocks in the consumer and healthcare sectors since the formation of the Global Emerging Markets team in 2010. Prior to this, he worked in Martin Currie’s Asia and Global Emerging Markets team, as an investment manager for the Global Emerging Markets product with a research focus on EMEA markets. He joined Martin Currie in 2005 from the Scottish Investment Trust, where he was an investment manager for UK equities. Andrew is a CFA® Charterholder. He has a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of St Andrews.

Paul is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy, with responsibility for researching stocks in the industrial, financial and utilities sectors. Paul joined Martin Currie in 2013 researching technology, media and telecoms stocks in the Global team, before progressing into a portfolio management role in the North America team. He joined the Global Emerging Markets team as a portfolio manager in 2017. Before Martin Currie, Paul worked as a trainee actuary for Punter Southall.. Paul is a CFA® Charterholder and has a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of York.

Colin is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy, with responsibility for researching stocks in the communication services sector. Before re-joining Martin Currie in 2018, he worked as a research analyst at Matthews Asia, an Asia-only investment specialist. Before this, Colin worked at Martin Currie from 2010-2012, initially as Assistant Research Analyst, working on global financials stocks, before progressing to Assistant Portfolio Manager in our Japan team. Colin is a Chartered Accountant (CA), beginning his professional career at Chiene & Tait Chartered Accountants. He was then at Lloyds Banking Group before he first joined Martin Currie. He is a CFA® charterholder and has an MA in Economics from the University of Glasgow.

Paul is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy and has responsibility for researching financials stocks. Paul first joined Martin Currie in 2003, leading our global financials research and comanaging our Global Financials Absolute Return Fund from 2006 to 2011 and Global Alpha strategy from 2013. Paul left the firm in 2017 and re-joined in 2018 as part of the Global Emerging Markets team. Prior to his time at Martin Currie he was at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for specialist sales in the pan-European insurance sector. He started his career in 1993 as a Trainee Chartered Accountant at Standard Life before moving into an investment analyst role at Standard Life Investments in 1997. Paul is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and an associate of the UK Society of Investment Professionals (ASIP). Paul has a PGDip in Investment Analysis from the University of Stirling and a BA (Hons) Accounting from the University of Ulster.

Aimee Truesdale is a co-manager of our Global Emerging Markets strategy and has responsibility for researching stocks in the healthcare sector. Aimee joined Martin Currie in 2021. Before that, she was an assistant fund manager and equities analyst at Jupiter Asset Management, where she managed and conducted research on the firm’s Indian equities strategy. Part of her role involved collaborating with Jupiter’s stewardship team to oversee environmental, social and governance (ESG)issues at investee companies. Prior to this, she worked in the global equities and Asia equities teams at Waverton Investment Management. Before joining the investment management industry, Aimee was a nuclear physicist at AWE,a U.K. Ministry of Defence research facility.Aimee is a CFACharterholderand has a B.Sc. in physics with honours from the University of Edinburgh.CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

Paul Whitehead, Managing Director, is the Co-Head of Index Equity with responsibility for Global Portfolio Engineering, Index Asset Allocation, Investment Process & Platform, and Transition Management (TRIM) within BlackRock's ETF and Index Investments group. Mr. Whitehead's service with the firm dates back to 1996, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Prior to assuming his current role , Mr. Whitehead was Global Head of Equity Trading, Global Head of Transition Management and Head of Americas Equity Trading.

Peter Sietsema has been with BFA since 2007, including his years with BGI, which merged with BFA in 2009. Mr. Sietsema has been employed by BFA or its affiliates as a Director since 2011 and a Vice President from 2009 to 2010. Mr. Sietsema has been a Portfolio Manager of each fund since 2023.

Ms. El-Shawarby joined VanEck in 2017 as Senior Analyst for VanEck’s Emerging Markets Equity Strategy, with a specialized focus in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) regions of emerging markets. Prior to joining VanEck, Ms. El-Shawarby was Director and Investment Analyst at Caravel Management, LLC, where she was responsible for identifying and analyzing investment ideas and economic and political evaluations of growth and risk for Middle East, North Africa, and Emerging Europe equities and companies. Her previous experience included working as a Private Equity Summer Fellow at Kaust Investment Management Company helping to set the private equity investment strategy for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Endowment. Prior to this, Ms. El-Shawarby held several roles at EFG-Hermes Asset Management, including Analyst, Vice President, and Portfolio Manager. Ms. El-Shawarby is a CFA Charterholder and member of the CFA Society, Egypt. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School. She earned a BA in Business Administration (Summa Cum Laude) with a concentration in Finance from The American University in Cairo and a BS in Political Science with a minor in Economics from Cairo University.