Despite concerns over how a Donald Trump presidency may affect foreign markets and the renewed focus on U.S. stocks, investors should still monitor the emerging markets and related exchange traded funds.
Edward Kerschner, Chief Portfolio Strategist at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, argued that strong growth projections, domestic fiscal stimulus and reform packages in the works across many countries will continue to support the emerging markets, according to a note.
The emerging economies also produce greater growth potential than more mature developed countries. Research from Boston Consulting Group showed that the top companies from the emerging markets grew three times faster than developed market counterparts from 2009 through 2014, and the average revenues of the largest EM countries in each 63 industrial sectors expanded to $43 from $15 billion from 2005 through 2014, Kerschner said.
BCG also identified so-called champions to watch over the next decade, including China and India, along with areas across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asian companies.
Through targeted ETFs, investors can also gain exposure to various segments of the world.
[related_stories]“Many investors now choose to express a view on smaller or specific markets, particularly as economic divergence becomes more pronounced,” according to BlackRock. “The ability to ‘de-cluster’ emerging markets, and access them with single-country ETFs, can help investors to pinpoint and potentially capitalize on these differences.”
For instance, along with the popular Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM), the two largest broad emerging market ETFs, investors have turned to country-specific ETFs to gain targeted market exposure.
More recently, Chinese equities have strengthened, and investors tapped into the mainland market through options like the Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (NYSEArca: ASHR), or the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI) and SPDR S&P China ETF (NYSEArca: GXC), which track Chinese companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Alternatively, investors can also breakdown the emerging markets into even more focused strategies. For example, the Columbia EM Quality Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: HILO) provides a play on dividend-paying companies from developing markets, and the Columbia Emerging Markets Consumer ETF (NYSEArca: ECON) includes many high-quality consumer brands that cater toward a rising middle class.
Deutsche Asset Management’s Abby Woodham also told ETF Trends that she expects the global macro picture to improve in 2017, with emerging markets enjoying positive earnings growth and showing attractive valuations. However, the strategist warned that we may continue to experience currency risks as the U.S. dollar strengthens against global currencies.
Consequently, investors may also turn to currency-hedged EM strategies like the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBEM), which targets the emerging markets but includes currency swaps to mitigate the negative effects of a stronger USD or depreciating emerging currencies.
For more information on the developing economies, visit our emerging markets category.
CORRECTION: updated Kerschner title.