Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 4258I

Advance Developing Markets Fund Ltd

11 March 2010

Advance Developing Markets Fund Limited

("the Company")

Interim Management Statement

For the period from 10 November 2009 to 28 February 2010

This interim statement covers the period from 10 November 2009 to 28 February 2010. It is the first interim management statement issued by the Company in its financial year to 31 October 2010, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3.

Investment objective and policy

The Company's objective is to achieve consistent returns for shareholders in excess of the S&P/IFCI Emerging Markets Composite Index in Sterling terms (the "Benchmark"). Advance Emerging Capital Limited (the "Manager") invests in a portfolio of funds and products which give diversified exposure to global emerging markets. The Company's geographic asset allocation is derived from the 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 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

S&P/IFCI Emerging Markets Composite Index (£ Price Return)

Highlights

During the period from 10 November 2009 to 28 February 2010:

* Undiluted Net Asset Value per share rose by +10.3%

* Share price rose by 4.3%

* S&P/IFC Composite Index (sterling adjusted) rose by +8.4%

* Undiluted NAV per share 473.3p as at 28 February 2010

* Diluted NAV per share 444.8p as at 28 February 2010

* Share price 400.0p as at 28 February 2010

* Net assets £312.1m as at 28 February 2010

Gearing

Gearing is not used as a tool to enhance performance but short term borrowing is permitted to assist in the management of liquidity.

Material transactions and events

On 9 November 2009 shareholders approved the voluntary winding-up of Advance Developing Markets Trust plc. Its assets were transferred to the newly incorporated Guernsey registered company, Advance Developing Markets Fund Limited, which commenced trading on 10 November 2009.

The Board of Directors is not aware of any other significant events or transactions that have occurred between 10 November 2009 and the date of this interim management statement that would have a material impact on the financial position or performance of the Company.

Manager's Comment

The period under review witnessed a consolidation in global markets following the substantial gains of last year. The Sterling NAV return of 10.3% was largely due to the sharp weakening of Sterling towards the very end of the period. In Dollar terms the benchmark index actually declined by 1.7%.

The outperformance of Advance Developing Markets Fund Limited over the Benchmark during the period came largely from manager selection, with our selected funds in Russia, China and Brazil performing particularly well. Asset allocation was a small negative while discounts were a small positive for relative performance. As markets globally retraced some of their gains in January, the Company's "off index" investments within frontier markets, private equity and property started to make up for some of their underperformance last year. In the first two months of 2010 the MSCI Frontier Markets Index was up by 3.3% in Dollar terms, compared to a decline of 5.3% in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

As was the case in many instances between 2002 and 2007, a short, sharp round of profit taking accompanied by continued earnings growth in emerging markets has served to bring valuations back into attractive territory. We are confident that emerging markets remain a more attractive long term investment proposition than developed markets for the years ahead and that fund flows will continue to reflect this.

Top 10 Holdings	% of NAV
Atlantis China Fund	7.9%
BlackRock Latin American IT	5.6%
JP Morgan Russian IT	5.0%
Taiwan Fund Inc	4.6%
Henderson TR Pacific IT	4.2%
Latin America Equity	4.2%
Baring Emerging Europe IT	4.1%
Tarpon All Equities Fund	3.5%
Fidelity Funds - Korea Fund	3.3%
Lazard Emerging World Fund	3.3%