EM alpha won’t come from broad macro decisions – MFS

Ten to 15 years ago, investors had the view that the best way to invest in emerging markets was to do so as though they were all one homogenous unit. That is no longer the case argues Ward Brown, MFS portfolio manager.

“Investors made their decision [on when to invest in emerging markets] on global factors, if they thought the global cycle was favourable they would invest,” Brown told portfolio Adviser during this year’s Portfolio Adviser Summer Congress. 

Now, he says, the alpha one seeks will come from within the asset class itself because there are a lot of differences between countries and there will be differences in the way that countries respond to cyclical changes like interest rates and commodities prices.”

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