Ninety One explores how institutions are repositioning emerging markets amid US concentration and a more volatile global backdrop
Emerging markets entered 2026 with renewed momentum. After outperforming developed markets through much of last year, the asset class moved back into allocation discussions, supported by improving earnings breadth, more stable policy settings across several economies, and a period of US dollar weakness.
That backdrop has shifted in recent weeks. The escalation of conflict involving Iran has pushed oil prices higher, disrupted trade routes, and reintroduced volatility across global markets. Capital has moved quickly back toward US assets, even as concerns around concentration and valuation remain.
For allocators, that tension is becoming more visible. US equities continue to dominate global portfolios, driven by a narrow group of large-cap names and resilient earnings. At the same time, that concentration has made diversification harder to achieve in practice. Incremental reallocations away from the US have not consistently translated into meaningful exposure elsewhere.
It is within that context that emerging markets are being reconsidered, and why Ninety One is hosting its upcoming webinar, on April 14th, 2026, Emerging Markets: A Framework for Canadian Allocators. The session will feature portfolio manager Varun Laijawalla and institutional perspectives, focusing on how EM is being positioned in portfolios today and how those decisions are being implemented.
From allocation debate to implementation discipline
The starting point for many institutions is no longer performance alone. Emerging markets have already demonstrated that they can deliver relative returns. The more relevant question is how they fit. Allocators are increasingly defining whether EM serves as a strategic allocation, a diversifier, or a more targeted expression, and aligning that role with how risk is underwritten across the broader portfolio.
The session will focus on practical decision points shaping that process, including:
- How allocators are defining EM’s role today: strategic allocation, diversifier, or tactical exposure
- The impact of US concentration and what would need to change for reallocations to drive sustained EM inflows
- How institutions are assessing policy credibility, real rates, and currency risk
- Where emerging markets fit within global themes, including participation in AI-related value chains
- How investors are underwriting risk, including geopolitics, trade regimes, and drawdown behaviour
For Ninety One, that discussion reflects a long-standing approach to emerging markets. With more than three decades of experience investing across EM economies, the firm views the asset class not as a single allocation, but as a diverse and evolving opportunity set shaped by both macro context and bottom-up fundamentals.
In 2026, emerging markets sit within a broader reassessment of how portfolios are constructed in a more concentrated and less predictable global environment. In practice, the difference is not whether emerging markets are included, but whether the allocation is built on clear assumptions around growth, policy, and currency that can be sustained when conditions change.
