Emerging markets can provide investors with some excellent investment options and staying on top of emerging market news is the best way to find opportunities that might suit your portfolio.
What Are Emerging Markets?
Countries or regions tend to be categorized as Developed, Emerging or Frontier markets. There are various companies and stock exchanges that make a determination about which countries should be placed in which category.
Developed markets include the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and many more. Emerging markets include countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, India and others. Frontier markets include countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Romania, Pakistan, Iceland and Vietnam.
How Are Countries Classified?
For instance, MSCI Inc., a New York-based finance company has created its own market classification system. Other well-known index classification systems include the S&P Dow Jones Indices and the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE). Generally, the classification lists they produce are similar, but they don’t always agree 100% on a country’s classification.
Let’s take South Korea as an example. S&P lists South Korea as a developed market, while MSCI lists this country as an emerging market and FTSE lists South Korea as an “Advanced Emerging” Market.
Countries are classified based upon several factors. For instance, access to the market itself is a factor. In the United States or Japan, it is generally very easy for investors across the globe to access our stock markets while it can be more difficult to access the markets in emerging markets such as Poland, Turkey or Peru.
The countries also are judged on their overall economic development and the stability of their economy, currency and government. Russia is a good example. Since the fall of communism, Russia began to transform from a completely closed society to an emerging market where investors had much greater access to the market.
The recent invasion of Ukraine, however, has added a great deal of instability, and this country has been recategorized by many of the organizations that rank these nations. MSCI moved Russia from emerging market status to standalone status while Russia no longer appears on the S&P Dow Jones or FTSE market classification systems.
Iceland is an example of how access to the market economy affects a country’s standing. This European nation has a stable government and a high standard of living, but it is still categorized as a frontier market because it’s just not all that easy to access investment opportunities in Iceland.
In general, with both emerging markets and frontier markets, these are countries that are poised for fast growth. For investors, investments in emerging markets potentially can provide high-yield results although they might also come with a higher risk than some investments in developed markets.
Of course, even in developed markets, there can be volatility. For instance, every time the Federal Reserve decides to institute a rate hike, this can affect the market, as interest rate changes have a direct effect on the economy. During the recession, as real estate crashed, this also affected our economy.
However, unlike an emerging market or frontier market, our long-standing economy and stable government make it easier for our developed nation to endure market fluctuations and even issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
More Risk? Higher Returns?
In theory, emerging market investments carry a higher-level risk, but also the potential to yield higher returns on investment. Emerging and frontier markets tend to be growing at a fast pace and with a younger population base, the need for goods and services continues to expand.
Whether you invest in an emerging market, frontier market or developed market, there is never any guarantee that your investment will prove beneficial to your portfolio. Even Fortune 500 firms go bust. Take General Motors as an example. Founded in 1908, it was one of the biggest car manufacturers on the planet and one of its presidents famously stated, “what’s good for GM is good for America.”
Fast forward to the recession of 2008 and you find a company riddled with mismanagement that failed to keep up with the times. Eventually, the company was bailed out by the U.S. government and reorganized into a new company. This is just one example of a so-called solid investment that failed, and there are plenty of other examples, including Blockbuster, Kodak and more.
The Power of Diversification
In general, the best option for investors is to build a diversified portfolio that includes some stable, long-standing companies that produce steady growth to build for the future as well as selecting some investment options that potentially can provide you with some higher short-term earnings.
It’s often wise to consider investing in mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as these are diversified to include a variety of holdings, rather than simply investing in a single company. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are another option to consider. These are companies that either own or finance real estate that produces income. They might own apartment complexes or finance homebuilders, etc.
All investments carry a certain amount of risk, and the best advice we can give is to diversify your portfolio and keep a close watch on the market and your investments. While a trusted financial planner can be a great asset, you still need to do some research and read up on market trends and potential issues related to your investments.
Before purchasing shares in a mutual fund or ETF, research the holdings in the fund. Study how the fund is weighted and pay particular attention to the top ten holdings, as they tend to affect the overall performance of the fund the most.
Options For The Africa Investor
At Money Watch Africa, our focus is mainly on helping investors find investment opportunities in Africa. Several nations in Africa are classified as emerging markets or frontier markets.
MSCI classifies Egypt and South Africa as emerging markets in Africa, while FTSE classifies South Africa as “advanced emerging,” and Egypt as “secondary emerging.” Several other nations are listed as frontier markets by FTSE, including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
MSCI lists Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) as frontier markets. WAEMU includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. MSCI also lists Botswana and Zimbabwe on its standalone index, two countries that are poised to gain frontier status as their markets improve and expand.
If you wish to invest in Africa, opting for an Africa ETF, such as a South Africa ETF can be one of your easiest options. There are also emerging market funds and frontier market funds, and some of which may be focused on Africa-based companies. Again, just research the companies in the fund and the fund managers to discover if this is the right fit for you.
Discover The Latest Emerging Market News
The websites for MSCI, FTSE and S&P Dow Jones can be excellent resources for emerging market investors. At Money Watch Africa, we also update our website with emerging market news, particularly as it relates to Africa investing, so be sure to check back from time to time to find possible investment options for your portfolio.
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