At this point, investing in emerging markets is second nature for many portfolios.
A lot has been written about the growth stories in China, India and other far-off locales. And increasingly, the stories here have matured and shifted to income opportunities. Funds like SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV) and iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB) now hold billions of dollars’ worth of investors’ money.
But with China and similar growth stories now so well known, the question is where can you find the next wave of growth? Tanzania, Kenya or Cambodia, anyone?
If investors are willing to take on a little risk, frontier markets could be your ticket for future returns. And there are plenty of reasons why you may want to consider the asset class.
Emerging Emerging Markets
If you could jump into a time machine and invest in China back in the 1990s, you’d be sitting on massive gains right now. China grew as much as 10 to 15% per year in the early 1990s. Today that growth is “only” a measly 6.5% or so. But in that time, China’s equity markets have swooned. While we can’t reverse time, we can scour the globe for the China of tomorrow.
