Asia returns put paid to decoupling argument

Managers ditch decoupling theory after Asia Pacific ex Japan region underperforms on a similar scale to rest of the crisis-stricken globe

The decoupling theory of recent years has been thrown out by Asia Pacific ex Japan managers who have seen their locale receive the same pasting as the West lately. David Gait, manager of the First State Asia Pacific Sustainability fund, insists this theory should never have been given such prominence. "The whole idea of decoupling is a strange one, the emerging markets got caught up in the same excess appetite for risk taking. Asia and the other emerging markets became very much a theme and people were not always realising that by nature these funds are high risk and volatile." Gait's...