Despite recent wobbles, investors who have stayed the course in emerging market equities since 2002 have been well rewarded for their loyalty, enjoying returns of 167 per cent, measured by the returns of the MSCI EM index.
They have done far better than those schmucks who instead put their faith in the mighty US stock market, where returns over the same period, while less volatile, have been a comparatively paltry 91 per cent, at least when measured by the S&P 1500 index, a broad-based measure (all data reflect simple index returns, ie not including dividend income).
But what about those US-listed stocks with significant exposure to the emerging markets?