Managers predict blue-chip rise in EM portfolios

Blue-chip stocks listed in the developed world could soon become a strategic part of emerging market portfolios, according to managers.

As multinationals source an ever larger proportion of their revenues from developing countries, these stocks are moving onto the radar of emerging market managers. First State’s Glen Finegan, who co-manages the £600m Global Emerging Markets fund with Jonathan Asante, says he increasingly expects blue chip names to feature in the portfolio. “There are multinationals which have more than 50% of their profits from emerging markets and if that happens, we consider them emerging markets stocks,” he says. Finegan says part of the attraction is pricing. With so much money flooding into...