Emerging and frontier markets have defied rising geopolitical tensions in July and August, and posted positive returns, according to Russell Global Indices.
The index provider says crisis in the Ukraine, increased sanctions against Russia and the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza have not impaired performance of emerging and frontier equity markets, but European, US and other global developed equity market indices show a flat to negative performance.
The Russell Frontier Index posted a 5% return for the third quarter of 2014, and the Emerging Markets Index a 3.3% return, in comparison to a loss of 3.6% for the Developed Europe Index.
Its strategists suggest that investors should continue to pursue their desired investment outcomes, whilst also keeping a careful eye on geopolitical events that may spark fear and market volatility.
Andrew Pease, global head of investment strategy, says:
“Our models and investment strategy process gives us a pro-equity bias through 2014. That means we think any pull-back from current market positions will likely offer a buying opportunity, so we think recent world events needn’t shake your focus on your investing goals.”
The Russell Global Index measures the performance of the global equity market based on all investable equity securities; it includes more than 10,000 securities in 47 countries, and covers 98% of the investable global market.
The Russell Frontier Index tracks 33 countries, is float-adjusted and represents 98% of these countries’ cumulative, liquid market capitalisation. Russell defines frontier countries as those that do not meet the criteria for membership in the Russell Emerging Markets Index.
©2014 funds europe
