New Frontiers had a disappointing year in 2016. In the 4th quarter MSCI Frontier Markets fared better than global emerging market that took a nosedive after Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Our models remained bullish throughout the quarter for most regions apart from Africa where we decided to cut down our exposure as the outlook remains subdued.

In 2016 we saw a renewed interest for Emerging Markets while the trickle down effect to Frontier Markets were largely abscent. Apart from Pakistan (+32%) and Morocco (+30%) few Frontier Markets managed to impress investors. Historically Frontier Markets have shown little correlation to global stock markets and performance lags are common. The new year has started on a very positve note with Frontier Markets catching up. With the frontier index at the same level as four years ago the asset class could surprise on the upside in 2017.