Frontier markets: looking for gold | beyondbrics

Investors in EM equities have done well from the recent global rally, with gains in the $-based MSCI emerging markets index of 7 per cent since December 1 and nearly 13 per cent since September 1.

But the big winners have been the smaller frontier markets. Argentina tops the list with a 28 per cent advance since December 1, followed by Romania on 27 per cent and Serbia on 23 per cent. The sceptics might say, ‘So, what?’ Little bourses tend to be more volatile than their larger fellows. But Citi’s Andrew Howell thinks he has spotted an interesting and potentially profitable change.

Howell says there could be a pattern in these outsized gains, with at least four possible drivers.
Frontier markets: looking for gold | beyondbrics