As developed countries continue to struggle with heavy debt loads and sluggish growth, the emerging markets burn hotter and hotter but what exactly are emerging markets? What role should they play in your portfolio? Is the region overheating? By what route can investors gain exposure to emerging markets? Emerging market equities or emerging market debt? We've be answering these questions and more throughout the week as we checked in with Morningstar analysts and strategists, as well as some of our favourite fund managers, to paint a colourful picture of emerging market investing.
Each day we rolled out new article and video reports: Click on a headline to read that article/watch that video.
Monday Who, what and where
What's an Emerging Market, Anyway? There's no universally embraced definition of what constitutes an emerging, or developing, market.
You May Have More in GEMs Than You Thought Many funds are joining in the emerging markets fun indirectly--check your exposure before adding more inadvertently.
Desperately Seeking Emerging Markets Exposure Fund investors have been demonstrating a lot of enthusiasm for emerging-markets stock and bond funds, but the recent stampede should give you pause.
The Emerging Markets: Exploring the Consequences The rapid development of countries like China and India is a remarkable phenomenon--developed economies even have some catching up to do in some respects.
Tuesday Manager insights
Schroders: Invest in Emerging, Not Submerging, Economies Schroders' Allan Conway questions why one would want to invest in the 'submerging' developed economies when emerging economies offer such opportunity.
Lazard: GEM 'Overheating' Isn't Yet a Problem 'Overheating' isn't yet a concern for the emerging markets as macro issues further afield have left stocks heavily discounted, says Lazard's Kevin O'Hare.
Invesco: India Growth Set to Overtake China (Archive) India is now the most expensive Asian markets but in the longer term there are substantial growth opportunities, says Invesco Perpetual's Tim Dickson.
T. Rowe Price: GEMs Graduated During the Crisis With all the reforms of the last 10-15 years, emerging markets proved to be well-prepared for the recent financial crisis, says Gonzalo Pangaro.
HSBC: Investors in GEMs Need Inflation Protection As HSBC Global Asset Management celebrates passing $100 billion of assets under management in emerging markets, Head of Global Macro & Investment Strategy Philip Poole looks at the outlook for GEMs in 2011.
Wednesday After the who, what and where...the how
Emerging Markets - Not Just a Growth Story Emerging markets closed-end funds are worth a look for investors seeking new ways to achieve income as well as growth from their portfolios.
Five Top Funds for Volatile Markets We navigate through our Global Emerging Markets Equity category to see which funds have earned Morningstar's top ratings.
Could the Flood into GEMs Submerge Investors? Is the burgeoning trend sustainable, or are investors making the typical mistake of chasing yesterday's winner?
Looking Beyond BRICs If you want to use ETFs to invest in exotic emerging markets, what, where and how can you do so?
The Peril and Promise of Frontier Markets Now that everyone owns Russia and China, what's next?
How to Find Opportunities in Emerging Markets (Archive) First State's Jonathan Asante explains his critera when weighing up investment opportunities in emerging markets.
Thursday Assessing the risks
Emerging Markets Investors: Time to Check Expectations Valuations are beginning to disconnect from the pace of fundamental growth in some emerging markets, but targeted values can still be found, says Matthews Asia Funds' Andrew Foster.
Buying the Year's Hottest Performers There's a long-term case for emerging markets, but you may have enough exposure already.
Emerging Markets: Too Hot to Handle? Morningstar readers discuss whether investors should have an offensive or defensive stance when it comes to the emerging markets.
Economic Growth Doesn't Equal Portfolio Growth One of the key mistakes when investing internationally is confusing a great story of economic prospects with the actual investment.
Friday Seeking diversification
Can Emerging Markets Bonds Continue to Outperform? PIMCO's Michael Gomez says they see great value in emerging markets local debt and Asian currencies versus the dollar.
Emerging-Markets Bond Funds: From Emerging to Converging This asset class has many strengths, but don't expect a repeat of the last decade.
Diversifying with Emerging Markets Debt For investors aware of the risks, emerging markets debt provides a welcome opportunity for diversification within a well-constructed portfolio.
Emerging Market Debt: Beyond Diversification There are numerous compelling reasons to allocate part of your portfolio to emerging markets debt--diversification is just one of them.
And a 'final thought'
How to Get Better Returns from a Better World Investing in emerging economies can have a lasting impact on their development, and their development can have a lasting impact on your portfolio returns, says Oxfam.