Amundi explores the shifting narrative around emerging markets in early 2019, focusing on how macro forces like USD strength, trade tensions, and policy shifts shaped performance and sentiment. Despite a weak 2018, EM assets rebounded early in 2019, challenging the consensus that the asset class remains structurally fragile.
Emerging Markets Charts & Views
Amundi Asset Management
Yerlan Syzdykov
Research
30 Pages
Key Takeaways
Underweight Positioning Gap: Institutional investors remain over 600bps underweight EM equities, sitting more than 1.5 standard deviations below historical averages, signaling potential reallocation upside if sentiment shifts.
Macro Headwinds Reversal: EM underperformance in 2018 was tied to USD strength and rising US rates, but early 2019 saw broad asset recovery across equities and fixed income within just 2 months.
Growth Resilience Divergence: China industrial production slowed to about 5% YoY, its weakest since 2002, highlighting uneven growth dynamics across EM despite improving market performance.