Finance Monthly September 2019 Edition

25 www.finance-monthly.com FINANCE & BUSINESS - EMER GING MARKETS espite ongoing trade and political tensions being a primary contributor to Emerging Market weakness across 2019, there are still considerable opportunities for growth in markets that are currently being under-represented across the Emerging Market indices. Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru all have relatively low weights in EM indices but are increasingly gaining recognition for providing more diverse investment opportunities than they were a decade ago. Of course, there are risks involved with investing in these markets: political instability, domestic infrastructure problems and currency volatility can serve as a hindrance, but despite this, there are the prospects for high returns. These smaller emerging markets provide investors scope to diversify equity exposure. Turkey Although Turkey has been considered an emerging economy for decades, we have only seen the country’s true potential in recent years. Turkey’s status has been elevated due to its strong, though uneven, economic growth under some world-class companies, growing military, active diplomacy, as well as its increased autonomy, all of which have contributed towards its increased recognition as a potential power and nation of strong economic influence. However, in recent years, the country has faced some political changes that have brought in some turbulence into its financial markets. The Turkish Government has also worked hard to ‘maintain economic stability’ by continuing negotiations with European Union countries, consolidating its position within the Syrian crisis, creating a normalisation process with the United States and improving its co- operation with East Asian countries. Turkey has reaped the benefits of these efforts as the country carefully navigated its way to sustainable economic development. Although the country was hard-pressed under the fall in the value of the Lira, it has demonstrated meaningful resilience and strength. The Turkish people are accustomed to instability and Turkey remains an emerging economic power. D