Coronavirus has hit many emerging market countries hard. China has bounced back relatively quickly but others such as Brazil are still fighting to keep cases down. As a result, the economic impact – and stock market performance – across the emerging markets is polarised.
As Janus Henderson portfolio manager Jennifer James says, EM countries are “in the same storm but not in the same boat”. How have the biggest emerging markets performed this year, and what do fund managers expect in 2021 as the world braces for a vaccine – and a new US President?
We’ve looked at some of the biggest countries in the MSCI Emerging Market Index, apart from China. (To make comparisons easier, we’ve used US dollars for return figures, but also includes returns in local currencies: in the case of Brazil and Russia, for example, it makes a big difference).