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(Vocus) November 2, 2010

The First State Latin America Fund has become the first Latin America fund to be added to Hargreaves Lansdowns Wealth 150 list – the list of what it believes to be the best funds across each fund sector.

Latin America has been gaining enormous presence in recent years. The region is seeing many years of political and social change finally coming to fruition and economic policies are also bearing fruit. More conservative government policies have slowly helped some economies become healthier and they are finally promising long-term economic stability. Although investing in this area still carries higher risk than investing in more established markets.

Brazil is by far the largest economy in Latin America and the 10th largest in the world with a young and increasingly well educated population. While Brazil has great significance in Latin America, the region is also made up of many other promising countries. Chile, for example, already has superb infrastructure in place that can comfortably support its export market. It is also home to many well managed and established companies. Peru has abundant natural resources, but it needs to expand its workforce and invest in new machinery to take full advantage of the opportunity this presents.

Mexico is home to some of the best corporate management in the region. The country is somewhat reliant on trade with the US so it has had a difficult period during the credit crisis, but a US recovery should have a positive impact on the prospects for the Mexican economy.

Meera Patel, Hargreaves Lansdown Senior Investment Analyst First State has a proven emerging markets approach, focused on high quality companies with sustainable earnings, which has delivered long-term outperformance. Given their style, we would expect the fund to outperform in a falling market, and broadly keep up in a strongly rising market, although of course there are no guarantees. Their strategy has proven positive over the longer term and this fund makes a welcome addition to the Wealth 150.

The Wealth 150 represents what Hargreaves Lansdown believes to be the best funds across all the major sectors. For a fund to be included in the Wealth 150 it must go through a rigorous selection process. A 10 strong research team use complex mathematical models and meet hundreds of fund managers a year. All funds within the Wealth 150 are continually monitored.

If a fund is not within Hargreave Lansdowns Wealth 150, this is not necessarily a recommendation to sell. However, for anyone thinking of adding to their investments these are believed to be superior alternatives.

The Wealth 150 is designed for people who would like to choose their own funds. It does not constitute a personal recommendation. As well as the Wealth 150, Hargreaves Lansdown also offers a range of multi-manager funds which allow investors to leave the choice of underlying funds to a team of experts.

About Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown is a leading provider of investment management products and services to private investors in the UK.

Founded in 1981 by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, Hargreaves Lansdown floated on the UK stockmarket in May 2007 and is currently included in the FTSE 250 index. Hargreaves Lansdown is a broad and diversified business and has established a reputation for providing high quality service and value for money products to private and corporate investors. Key features of Hargreaves Lansdowns business include:

Providing investment products (including ISAs, SIPPs, funds, equities, venture capital trusts and pensions), as well as fund selection, stockbroking, advisory, discretionary and asset administration services.

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