Summer of the underdogs

Western corporate governance scandals have prompted a flight to quality in emerging markets that are seen to be cleaning up their acts. But investors need to keep their wits about them: in some cases corporate governance may only have improved from "horrible" to "bad".

It has been a summer of upsets. Once proud footballing nations such as France, Italy, and Spain have been humbled in the World Cup by developing countries such as South Korea and Senegal. Something similar is occurring in finance. Once proud financial centres such as New York, London and Paris are suffering stock market collapses, with the S&P500 index falling in June to post-September 11 levels of below 1000. The Nasdaq has fallen 26% so far this year.

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