S6E7: AI, Junk Rallies, and Policy: Why Emerging Markets are Surging w/ Pooja Malik
The global investment landscape has shifted dramatically since 2024. In this episode, Pooja Malik, CFA - Founding Partner and CIO at Nipun Capital - returns to Financial Perspectives to discuss the surprising trends of 2025 and 2026 in Emerging Markets, including the "junk rally" in AI-linked stocks and the impact of US tariffs on local policy.
With over 20 years of experience managing $100B+ portfolios at firms like BlackRock, Pooja provides a masterclass on alpha extraction in modern Asian markets. In this follow-up to her 2024 appearance, Pooja discusses how the AI theme has moved beyond the "obvious winners" to impact the entire power supply chain. She also shares her quantitative perspective on why the volatility of Indian and Chinese equities is trending downward, creating a new paradigm for global allocators.
In this episode, we cover:
- The AI Bubble in Asia: Why retail investors are buying anything remotely linked to power and data centers.
- Risk Reversal: Why US debt and political uncertainty are shifting risk perceptions toward developed markets.
- Sovereign Powerhouses: A look at the distinct economic visions of India, China, and Saudi Arabia.
- The Benchmarking Gap: Why EM drives 60% of global GDP but only 10% of equity benchmarks.
Guest Speaker
Pooja Malik, CFA
Pooja brings over 20 years of asset management experience to the Nipun team and her areas of focus are portfolio management and research. Prior to Nipun, Pooja was a Managing Director at Barclays Global Investors (BGI)/BlackRock in the Active/Scientific Equities group, where she led teams that managed various long-only and long-short portfolios in excess of $100 billion for institutional investors. As the co-head of the North American investment teams, she led all aspects of portfolio management and research for U.S. Small Cap and Canadian strategies as well as shared responsibility for U.S. Large Cap strategies. At BGI/BlackRock, she co-headed the largest investment team within the Active/Scientific Equities group. Before focusing on portfolio management, Pooja was active in research for the Asian strategies. Pooja worked at BGI from Feb 2001-Dec 2010. Prior to that, she worked at ICICI Bank (1997-1999), India’s largest private bank where she managed a loan portfolio.
Pooja is an award-winning thought leader and regular speaker on Bloomberg Asia Day Break and at 100 Women in Finance events. Her numerous coveted awards include Hedge Fund Rising Star 2015, by Institutional Investor; Best Female Hedge Fund Manager, 2016, Eurekahedge; and Tomorrow’s Titan: 2016, by Ernst & Young with Hedge Fund Journal. Pooja is passionate about encouraging and supporting women in asset management. Pooja has been an outspoken advocate for advancing women’s careers and most recently in 2021, she co-founded the California chapter of the Bloomberg Women’s Buy Side Network.
Pooja graduated from Delhi University and received an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and has most recently earned CFA’s certificate in ESG Investing in 2022.
