Identifying global investment themes

Traditionally, the managers of internationally-invested funds have looked first at the opportunities afforded by successful geographical asset allocation. Historically, the emphasis has been on the degree of exposure to individual markets, with the aim of overweighting those markets that were expected to perform well. This approach prevailed until just a few years ago but more recently the increasing globalisation of world stock markets has called for a sea change in the management approach to international investment. We have been quick to recognise that the performance of an internation...