Something else to become apparent from the data is the continued, gentle decline in interest in emerging market funds among those constructing balanced portfolios.
The latest iteration of the data shows the average exposure here to be 4.4 per cent, a reduction of 50 basis points since the start of 2023.
The marmalade dropper here is probably Liontrust’s 13.4 per cent allocation.
At the other end of the distribution, Tacit, Bordier and Brooks Macdonald are among the firms with zero allocated to that part of the market.
The curiosity of all of this is that emerging market central banks are likely to cut interest rates sooner than those in developed markets, having initially lifted rates earlier.
That might be expected to boost equity returns, but allocators may fear that a broad slowdown in global GDP may be acutely painful for emerging economies.
Allocations to Asia ex-Japan funds have also declined, with the average allocation being 4.3 per cent today, compared with 4.9 per cent at the start of the year, perhaps as allocators became more conscious of the economic turbulence engulfing China right now.
