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I read somewhere in the last few days that the 2020s is going to be the 'decade of Asia' and you do not need an advanced degree in financial forecasting to work out why. Emerging markets investment is a common preference in the start of year strategic calls but, as I talked about here back in September, 'you buy (fund manager) Ashmore (ASHM) when emerging markets are out of favour...or you just buy emerging market assets for the very long haul'. Today's trading update from the company looks rather good…

NEWSFLOW

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There are only two ways to play the emerging markets: you are either in them for the longer haul or you trade them. I think a bit of both is appropriate, a sort of core and satellite approach. Ultimately there are lots of supportive big theme mega-trends (urbanisation, population, rise of a higher consumption middle class) but also lots of potential issues around dodgy governments, corruption and the natural volatility from anything that is 'emerging'…

NEWSFLOW

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As many readers will know, I spend a good chunk of my time looking at the bigger, wider macro world to help me come to conclusions about individual stocks. I know the 'bottom-up' purists will hate this but nothing exists in a vacuum and whilst the macro world is notoriously hard to predict, this does not mean you should not look for some insights. I do not believe - as some academics would have it - that eighty or ninety percent of your returns are determined by your asset allocation choices, but it certainly plays a significant contributory factor. There is a reason for the ramble – and it is Ashmore (ASHM), which produced a trading update today covering the first calendar year quarter...

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You probably read in the last day or so that the emerging markets have formally entered bear market territory, down 20% from the highs of late January. The reasons for this are inevitably multifarious but simplify down to the hassles of higher interest rates (led by the US) and a firmer dollar plus, of course, trade war fears. All of these have helped expose cracks in emerging market domestic policy - such as the unsustainable economic policies of Argentina and Turkey.

NEWSFLOW

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Hello Share Munchers. I’m quite a fan of investment in emerging markets. My main reason is that they have room to grow as poverty-prone populations become, well, a bit less poverty-prone. I suppose I’m mainly thinking about India and China. Together with many African countries which are not doing at all badly, despite common perceptions to the contrary.

NEWSFLOW

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Ashmore’s (ASHM) final results were announced this morning. They look pretty good to me, so I'm staying bullish!