We provide an analysis of frontier market equities with respect to world market integration and diversification. Principal component results reveal that frontier markets exhibit low levels of integration. In contrast with developed and emerging markets, frontier markets offer no indication of increasing integration through time. Furthermore, individual frontier market countries do not exhibit consistent rates of changing integration. Structural break tests identify breakpoints in integration, as well as integration dynamics across countries. We show that frontier markets have low integration with the world market and thereby offer significant diversification benefits.

This study investigated the investment opportunities offered by the frontier equity markets to international portfolio investor. We examine eleven portfolios and efficient frontiers by using the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) classification of developed, emerging and frontier markets. Allowing exposure to the frontier markets permits international investors to expand combinations in the risk-return space. The results confirms that frontier markets are negatively correlated to the developed and developing countries, offer most optimal risk, and returns combination. These results are consistent both in case of short selling and without short selling. Such findings might be helpful to construct optimal portfolios as well as empirical applications in investment theory.

Expert advice on making sound investments in frontier markets Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa (CIVETS) are six countries poised to be the next group of developing nations to see an economic boom. These countries, similar to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are currently reaping the rewards of a growing economy. Frontier Markets For Dummies provides an honest look at the CIVETS countries and explores ways that savvy investors can prepare to take advantage of the emerging economies. You'll get the lowdown on the basics of frontier market investing, how to weigh the potential with the challenges and risks, factors that affect investments, and much more. Explores the growth in both BRIC and CIVETS countries—and how investors can prepare now to take advantage of the markets Explains foreign governance and laws Includes coverage of ways to invest in frontier markets Frontier Markets For Dummies provides investors at all levels with the information they need to take advantage of the latest group of emerging markets.

Handbook of Frontier Markets: Evidence from Asia and International Comparative Studies provides novel insights from academic perspectives about the behavior of investors and prices in several frontier markets. It explores finance issues usually reserved for developed and emerging markets in order to gauge whether these issues are relevant and how they manifest themselves in frontier markets. Frontier markets have now become a popular investment class among institutional investors internationally, with major financial services providers establishing index-benchmarks for this market-category. The anticipation for frontier markets is optimistic uncertainty, and many people believe that, given their growth rates, these markets will be economic success stories. Irrespective of their degrees of success, The Handbook of Frontier Markets can help ensure that the increasing international investment diverted to them will aid in their greater integration within the global financial system. Presents topics in the contexts of frontier markets and uses tests based on established methodologies from finance research Features contributing authors who are established university academics Emphasizes financial institutions and applications of financial risk models Explores finance issues usually reserved for developed and emerging markets in order to gauge whether these issues are relevant and how they manifest themselves in frontier markets

This paper examines the international diversification benefits subject to portfolio constraints -- in particular, constraints on short selling. We show that the international diversification benefits remain substantial for U.S. equity investors when they are prohibited from short selling in emerging markets. This result is robust to investment restrictions on non-native individuals. It is also unaffected by the fact that the U.S. equity index portfolio is not on the efficient frontier spanned by U.S. securities. The integration of world equity markets reduces, but does not eliminate, the diversification benefits of investing in emerging markets subject to short-sale constraints.

Where are the next decade's greatest investment opportunities? Veteran investor Marko Dimitrijevic argues that they can be found in frontier markets, which account for seventy-one of the world's seventy-five fastest-growing economies and 19 percent of the world's GDP. Yet many investors ignore them. Fueled by new access to technology and information, frontier markets are emerging even faster than their predecessors, making them an essential component of a globally diversified portfolio. In Frontier Investor, Dimitrijevic shows through colorful case studies, compelling charts, and fascinating travel anecdotes that it is not only possible but prudent to invest in these unfamiliar and undervalued options. Dimitrijevic explains how frontier markets such as Nigeria, Panama, and Bangladesh are poised to follow the similar paths of Chinese, Indian, and Russian markets, which were considered exotic two decades ago. He details a strategy for how and where to invest, directly or indirectly, to profit from frontier growth. Dimitrijevic covers the risks, political and otherwise, of these markets, the megatrends that promise exciting investment opportunities in the coming years, and the prospects for countries beyond the frontier, including Myanmar, Cuba, and even Iran. Rich with experience and insight, Frontier Investor opens up a whole new world—and worldview—to investors.

With a combined population of more than 350 million people, frontier and developing Asia, which includes countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, is located in the world’s fastest-growing region and has favorable demographics. The countries share a number of common macroeconomic, financial, and structural challenges. This book addresses issues related to economic growth and structural transformation, as well as the risk of a poverty trap and rising income inequality.