Investors need to understand the differences between Chinese capitalism and Western capitalism in order to properly assess the opportunities in China. Meanwhile, norms in India more closely resemble those in the United States— but India has dramatically larger headroom for growth.

A variety of macro and fundamental factors are converging in emerging markets, signaling a period of resurgence. We believe structural changes, a supportive investment environment, and dynamic geopolitical influences make EM particularly attractive right now. For example, semiconductor production could soon become more critical to EM growth than commodities. Now may prove to be an inflection point, especially for portfolios focused on capturing this dynamic change. Please join us for an interactive webinar highlighting EM's changing nature and the added value of active management.

Whereas commodity production had been a major economic driver in emerging markets, we think technology is now the leading force. Semiconductor advancement is the “new oil.” semiconductor companies are so far ahead of their competitors that supply is in fact a constraint—and therefore a major investment consideration.

High-quality companies outside the U.S. look especially attractive to us. And their stocks have underperformed recently, possibly giving them greater upside potential.

I was invited to travel to Mumbai, India in January this year to speak at an investment conference. It was my first trip to India and, in fact, my first trip to Asia. It was a great experience and an opportunity to learn a lot about India’s history, economy and culture. But the India I visited four months ago is very different from today – at least from an economic and investment perspective. Here to talk with me about the investment opportunities in India are two fund managers from Wasatch Global Investors with deep experience in that part of the world.

Like a pilot relying on a plane’s flight-control instruments during an unfamiliar route with poor visibility, we are depending more than ever on our fact-based, unemotional investment methods. The overwhelming majority of our investments are in companies that we believe are built to withstand harsh economic shocks. Only on the margin have we slightly increased our trading activity.

Four reasons for optimism about emerging-market stocks despite their general underperformance and higher volatility over the last decade.