Emerging markets reward investors

Tech stocks ebb, defensives flow. Economic data comes and goes. But for managed funds, two questions remain the same. The first of these is Japan. Against the MSCI All Countries World index's 8.8% weighting, what is the right thing to do? As always, the question is easy. It's the answer that's hard. In Japanese, nemawashi means that informal process of consensus gathering that is necessary before anything can be done. As the politicians and civil servants wash away, the Japanese sun continues to sink. Domestic demand will definitely fall in 2002, and probably in 2003. Consumption (60% ...