Grappling with investor fears over rocky EM markets

CURRENCY turmoil in China and fears of a global slowdown have led investors to abandon emerging markets (EMs) in droves, rattling the large asset-management firms that have long promoted such investments in their hunt for higher returns.

For more than a decade, star managers at Franklin Templeton, Pimco, Aberdeen and Oppenheimer seemed more like Marco Polos than Warren Buffetts, beating a path to Internet companies in China, oil giants in Brazil and gold mines in South Africa.

Investing in these high-risk markets came to be seen as a necessity for a diversified portfolio as well as an opportunity for these firms to levy some of the highest fees in the industry. Now, with investors fleeing in a fury, asset management firms are struggling to stanch the bleeding.