Investors regain their appetite for EM assets

In February, there was a net flow into global ETF and mutual funds that invest in emerging markets for the month since September. In particular, funds dedicated to investing in equities in Emerging Asia were major beneficiaries. Daily data from stock exchanges in six countries in the region (India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam) also suggest demand for equities in these markets has stayed strong during March. Still, foreign investors’ appetite for equities in Emerging Asia has not had much effect on their performance relative to that of developed market equities.