The developing markets have been whipsawed by a mix of a strong dollar, rising interest rates and trade concerns. However, emerging market stocks and related exchange traded funds may be a cheap play for long-term investors.
The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) fell 9.3%, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: IEMG) dropped 8.9% and JPMorgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NYSEArca: JPEM) declined 6.1% so far this year.
J.P. Morgan’s Nicolas Aguzin argued that if you’re a long-term, strategic investor, it’s worth looking at emerging market returns, pointing to positive fundamentals but adding that valuations could still fall further due to market sentiment and the perception of trouble, CNBC reports.
“Most of our time we spend thinking about long-term investments and over many cycles, not just one or two years,” Aguzin, chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific, told CNBC. “The strategic investors, they seem to be very interested in emerging markets especially where we’re talking about India, about China. So there’s a bit of a divergence from what the strategic investors are looking at and what some of the short-term investors are looking at.”
Investors could also gain targeted, country-specific exposure through ETFs like the iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS: INDA), PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN), WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI) and Franklin FTSE India ETF (NYSEArca: FLIN).
For China exposure, investors can look to options like the iShares MSCI China ETF (NYSEArca: MCHI), SPDR S&P China ETF (NYSEArca: GXC) and Xtrackers CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR).
Emerging Market GDP Growth Slips
Emerging market gross domestic product growth slipped to 4.1% in August from 4.3% in July, the lowest since April 2016, according to the Institute of International Finance.