Across bonds, equities and banking flows a giant $2.75trn in cross-border capital exited emerging markets, the investment advisory service said.
This is the biggest concentrated net outflow since the 2007/09 Crisis, but without the same disastrous economic outlook, CrossBorderCapital added.
"These outflows hit the BRIC economies hard and not surprisingly, they coincide with an investor sentiment reading that may not yet be back at its early-2009 trough, but is very close to the lows suffered at the time of the 1998 Russian default," the firm’s research note explained.
Lack of liquidity is seen as the main risk in EM and it was this rather than weak earnings that led investors to take flight.
Specifically, Brazil saw $289bn of capital outflows in the four months to the end of December, while China witnessed outflows of $886bn. Meanwhile India posted $252bn of cross-border outflows during the period and Russia saw $374bn exit the country.
Both Brazil and China posted outflows in each of the four months, while India and China saw a brief reprieve in October when they both saw inflows.
