Largest EMEA markets fail to shine

The past year has again highlighted the reason why blindly following the benchmark may not be the best way to invest in the EMEA region: three of the worst-performing markets over the past 12 months are also some of the largest. Israel, South Africa and Turkey make up more than two-thirds of the MSCI EM EMEA Index. By contrast, some of the smallest components, such as the Czech Republic and Hungary, are among the best performers. Recently, the Bank of Israel raised its discount rate to 9.1%, the third consecutive rise in June, to combat rising inflation. The central bank is trying to r...