Qatar market looks a quality play - FT.com

One of the most difficult challenges for investors is how to diversify their portfolios in a global market that seems to move as one. International exposure will help, especially as markets return to some sense of normality, but you can’t blindly expect all faster-growing countries to be bastions of stability.

You need to focus country by country, recognising that each local market is just a collection of individual companies with different characteristics. Once you’ve found your shortlist of countries, you then need to find the best funds to access that market.

This country-focused approach – not one based on large regional narratives – also needs a second layer based on quality. If we are in a new normal of low growth rates and financial balance sheet issues, you need to apply the same rules to countries as you would to big companies: is the country of high quality, with a strong balance sheet?

* username: rupertbu