Investors look to Asia

EMERGING MARKETS were the big investment story 20 years ago but after much excitable talk about how the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India and China - would overtake the West and dominate the global economy, they have struggled to do so

- Harvey Jone

Lumping four very different economies together under one acronym backfired as they faced very different challenges. Brazil has stagnated with inflation rampant, Russia is in disarray after its invasion of Ukraine, and China's drive for domination under paramount leader Xi Jinping has triggered a global backlash. Of the four, India has fared best.

Investors who piled into emerging market funds lost heart as performance waned and the BRICs were superseded by the FAANGS - Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google-owner Alphabet and other red-hot US technology stocks such as Tesla.