Focused Thinking

EMEA

Economics

Asia in 2019: Always Darkest Before the Dawn

Our 2019 GDP growth forecasts are not too different from the streets – while we are more downbeat on China, India and Malaysia, we are more positive on Indonesia and the Philippines.

3 min video | December 2018

Volatility

New directions: diversification of alternative risk premia strategies

Despite a difficult year, investors remain keen to use alternative risk premia strategies. However, current approaches may be less diversified than they appear, especially given cross-contamination in cash equity factors. A more diversified approach making use of fixed income has led to better returns and a more resilient portfolio

1 min read | December 2018

Economics

Oil Price Slump: A Big EM Differentiator

Oil prices have fallen sharply. This drop, if sustained, will have a greater impact on emerging markets than developed markets.

3 min read | November 2018

Emerging Markets

New Technology: Memory Hierarchy Emerge Through the Mix

Computing architecture is advancing owing to memory hierarchy innovation. While the performance of processors and storage continues to improve, the gap between their performances widens.

3 min read | November 2018

Central Banks

Damocles: our early warning indicator of exchange rate crises

Despite the lessons learned from past crises, currency crises still occur from time to time and spread contagiously when they happen. After receiving substantial capital inflows, some EM economies are under pressure this year.

3 min read | September 2018

Japan in focus

What can we learn from the history of trade wars?

From the 1950s to the 1990s Japan often found itself in disagreement with the US over trade. Although the trade war in automobiles in the 1980s was to do with the US’s current account deficit, there was significant trade friction from the 1950s to the 1970s related to textiles and steel, which took place before the US had a pronounced current account deficit.

2 min read | August 2018

Economics

Global Emerging Markets Podcast Series

Goldilocks economic conditions of strong growth and low inflation and the hunt for yield mean that most investors remain optimistic. But in our three podcasts below, Nomura economists point out that there are good reasons to be cautious.

11 min podcast | May 2018

Emerging Markets

Higher Oil Prices Drive EM Divergence

A continued rise in oil prices would divide emerging markets by economic performance. The macroeconomic cost to large net oil importers with weak economic fundamentals can be disproportionately larger than the benefit to net oil exporters

2 min read | May 2018

Emerging Markets

Where are the risks in an EM snapback?

Four potential events this year could lead to an emerging markets pricing snapback: a US bond market selloff, the global unwind of quantitative easing, a China growth slowdown and the risk of a trade war.

3 min read | April 2018

Economics

What is fuelling trade in global emerging markets?

Trade has played a critical role in the development of emerging market (EM) countries. But as we discuss in our video, the increase in protectionist rhetoric in recent years threatens to stall or even reverse globalization. How will EM countries cope?

2 min read | April 2018