10% dollarized IRR hurdle
William Blair uses a 10% dollarized internal rate of return as their minimum investment hurdle when evaluating EM stocks.
Snapshot · Excess Returns
Finding Quality Growth in Emerging Markets with Ian Smith
Explore episode
Jun 22, 2026
Where this was said
Finding underappreciated quality in EM stocks
At 52:20 · chapter starts 47:00
Ian Smith walks through William Blair's three-pillar framework — quality, trajectory, underappreciation — explaining why trajectory and underappreciation drive returns while quality provides asymmetric downside protection. [1] — Ian Smith "William Blair seeks companies that are quality leaders, have improving trajectories (rising ROIC, expanding TAMs, strengthening moats), and…" 47:20
William Blair's Three-Pillar EM Framework
William Blair seeks companies that are quality leaders, have improving trajectories (rising ROIC, expanding TAMs, strengthening moats), and are underappreciated relative to their outlook. Quality is not the return driver — trajectory and underappreciation are. Quality is the insurance.
~250 companies in William Blair opportunity set
William Blair's quality-growth EM process starts with an opportunity set of approximately 250 higher-quality businesses globally.
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