Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 2904M

Advance Developing Markets Fund Ltd

14 September 2012

Advance Developing Markets Fund Limited ("the Company")

This interim statement covers the period from 1 May 2012 to 31 August 2012. It is the second interim management statement issued by the Company in its financial year to 31 October 2012, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3.

Investment objective and policy

The Company's investment objective is to achieve consistent returns for Shareholders in excess of the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index in Sterling terms.

Advance Emerging Capital Limited (the "Investment Manager") invests in a portfolio of funds and products which give diversified exposure to emerging market economies and those of the Pacific Rim. The Company's geographic asset allocation is derived from the Investment Manager's analysis of the prospects for regions and countries and of the underlying opportunities for investment. Individual investments are selected for their potential to outperform as a result of one or more of the following criteria: the performance of the region, market or asset class in which they invest; the skill of the underlying fund manager; and, in the case of closed end funds, through the narrowing of discounts at which their shares trade to net asset value. The Investment Manager may employ hedging mechanisms where it believes that this would protect the performance of the Company's investment portfolio in a cost effective manner.

Benchmark

MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index in Sterling terms (the "Benchmark").

Highlights

During the period from 1 May 2012 to 31 August 2012:

* Net Asset Value ("NAV") per ordinary share ("Share") fell by 6.0%

* Share price fell by 7.8%

* MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index in Sterling terms fell by 4.1%

* NAV per Share was 447.8p as at 31 August 2012

* Share price was 403.5p as at 31 August 2012

* Net assets were £340.1 million as at 31 August 2012

Material transactions and events

The Board of Directors is not aware of any significant events or transactions that have occurred between 1 May 2012 and the date of this interim management statement that would have a material impact on the financial position or performance of the Company.

Investment Manager's Comment

While discounts have drifted wider on a number of closed end funds which has proven painful in the short term, it has presented opportunities to add to holdings at attractive levels. In asset allocation terms, the frustration has been in the strong performance of small markets that trade at premium multiples to the rest of emerging markets, which flies in the face of our value focus. Thus, we have seen markets such as Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines outperforming year to date, despite being amongst the more highly valued emerging markets. Our preferred markets of Brazil, Russia and Thailand continue to offer much better value with strong growth prospects intact.

Entering the final months of the year, there are a number of reasons to be optimistic, namely low valuations and probable injections of liquidity from central banks.

Top 10 Holdings as at 31 August 2012	% of NAV
BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust	7.2%
Henderson Asian Growth Trust	5.2%
Korea Fund Inc	4.7%
Atlantis China Fund	4.4%
JPMorgan Russian Securities	4.2%
Tarpon All Equities Fund	4.0%
Aberdeen Latin America Equity Fund	4.0%
Coronation Top 20 Fund	3.8%
Neuberger Berman - China Equity Fund	3.7%
Edinburgh Dragon Trust	3.5%