This month, French asset manager Amundi hosted an emerging markets roundtable in London. It discussed fading US exceptionalism as being a turning point in global market dynamics, considered what that means for portfolios, and examined why the macro case for emerging markets is overtaking developed economies.

Although investors have been tilting their exposure in 2025 to European assets in order to diversify out of US assets, Amundi, which has €2.2 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in assets under management, has highlighted that increasing investment opportunities are being seen in emerging markets – such as India.

“There could be more diversification into these countries,” Alessia Berardi, head of emerging macro strategy at Amundi Investment Institute, told journalists at a roundtable this month.

“Policy uncertainty has been keeping investors mindful of investing in emerging markets due to concerns over the higher risks there. They probably feel safer in Europe but that is starting to change,” Berardi said.

She said economic growth would slow, with a lot depending on how tariffs evolve after the 90-day pause and the roll out of US President Donald Trump’s policies.

“The persistence of policy uncertainty and the damage to domestic and investor confidence are risks to watch,” she added. “However, the growth premium in emerging markets is still there. Inflation is in the target range and India’s GDP growth is still good at 6 to 7 per cent,” Berardi said.

With India’s GDP outlook being strong in its more domestic-driven structure, and with diversification benefits away from China, Amundi believes that India is a clear winner in the trade negotiations with the US.      

Moving into India
Nick McConway, head of Asia ex-Japan equity at Amundi Asset Management, highlighted at the event how they have moved into India financials, and reduced their exposure moderately to China. “We were underweight in Korea but have increased our exposure there to neutral, as there are opportunities there. We reduced our exposure to Taiwan earlier in the year but have increased it a bit recently and remain underweight,” McConway told this news service.

“We were overweight in Vietnam and saw some of the best performance there this year but we have now reduced our exposure there due to the tariffs, as they are a big exporter to the US,” he continued. “We our building our financial exposure in the Philippines and have increased our exposure a bit in Indonesia. Singapore is also interesting, with some good ecommerce names. We remain underweight in Brazil and believe Argentina is the new darling of the market.” The Polish equity market is also one of McConway's favourites in Central and Eastern European markets and he remains invested in Greece.

What the others say  
Amundi is not alone in its views. Eastspring Investments, a $256 billion Asia-based asset management business of Prudential, for instance, also thinks tariffs and significant US policy uncertainty will dampen global growth, with Asian and emerging markets poised to benefit from diversification needs and a weakening dollar (see here).

“India is seen as Asia’s largest winner in the current trade environment. With exports to the US accounting for just 2.2 per cent of GDP – the second lowest in Asia – India is expected to grow 6.3 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent next year. A trade deal with the US could benefit India by making it a more attractive production site for companies relocating from China,” the firm said.

HSBC Global Private Banking is also positive about Asian equities in the third quarter of 2025, particularly in China, India and Singapore. See more here.