Upon returning from our November 2017 research visit to Kuwait, we felt confident the economy was on improved footing after what had been an extended hangover from the 2008 financial crisis. However, what stopped us from getting more excited at the time was the fact many stocks had rallied hard on FTSE Russell’s announcement to move Kuwait to its Emerging Markets Index. Despite some positive meetings and witnessing companies making decent fundamental improvements, valuations appeared rich and we felt comfortable maintaining our significant country-level underweight.
