Nevertheless, emerging market sovereign bonds might just turn out to be the safest place for investors' money. The two main reasons for this, according to Ashmore Investment Management, which manages $32bn (￡19bn, €24bn) of emerging market securities, are the weakness of US finances and the strength of emerging market balance sheets.
“People are saying this downturn is terrible for emerging markets,” says Jerome Booth, head of research at Ashmore. “But they are forgetting that emerging economies are the only ones with surpluses.” Certainly, many investors remain unconvinced by the argument: shares in Ashmore, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006, have fallen 34 per cent in the past month, a far greater decline than the fall of 20 per cent in the FTSE 100.
The bashing that emerging market currencies, shares and bonds have taken in the past few weeks is largely a function of the unwinding of dollar assets, held by banks, hedge funds and private investors, rather than due to any notion of a “flight to quality”, Mr Booth believes. The real story is a secular shift of economic leadership from the US to China, India and other emerging markets.