Don’t ignore emerging markets: Henderson Global

Investors should not ignore emerging markets as it is home to 86 per cent of the world's population, and growing much faster than the developed world, according to Henderson Global Investors.

Head of the groups emerging markets, Glen Finegan, said: "I don't think it makes sense for anyone with a global perspective to ignore six billion of seven billion people in the world. Really all of the world's future population growth, which we are told is going to reach nine billion, is going to happen in emerging markets".

It has become an increasingly attractive investment opportunity, as India, Asia and African were expanding their economies, he said.

The Money Management Investment Centre (MMIC) and Financial Express' emerging market funds data found that only a handful of funds produced a return over seven per cent, over the last three years.

The top performers were OnePaths's wholesale emerging companies trust with a 15.74 per cent return per annum (pa), followed by Fiducian's global smaller companies and emerging markets funds with 10.37 per cent pa and RARE's emerging markets infrastructure fund with 9.25 per cent.

However, the emerging world was a riskier and volatile class that required a strategic and disciplined investment approach, so opportunities could be capitalised, he said.

Colonial First State's (CFS) wholesale global emerging markets sustainability fund recorded the lowest amount of an annual volatility with 8.13 per cent, followed by CFS wholesale global emerging markets (with 8.69 per cent) and Clearview's CFML RARE emerging markets fund with 9.52 per cent.

However, outside of those top performers was the least volatile fund on the MMIC, OnePath's investment savings bond optimix global emerging funds that produced 6.47 per cent volatility, but only returned 1.97 per cent.