Bangkok fall doesn’t discourage

NEW YORK – Investors are still looking to get in on the unprecedented growth of emerging markets, and this week’s plunge in Thailand’s Bangkok Stock Market did little to shake their resolve.

Wall Street securities firms have made it easy for mom-and-pop investors to broaden their portfolios to include emerging market exposure. Buying into big-growth regions like China, India and even Russia is now as easy as getting a share of General Motors Corp. – and analysts expect it will get even easier.

“Emerging markets have always been risky propositions, but with risk comes reward,” said Anthony Chan, chief economist with JPMorgan’s private client services. “Even with what happened in Thailand, this is still a worthwhile investment as part of a broader portfolio, with the understanding that there is greater volatility and risk.”

Wall Street got a hard lesson on Tuesday that sinking cash into emerging markets is still a risky business after Thailand had its worst downturn in 16 years. Markets in Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Turkey all lost more than 1 percent as big investors worried a shock might be at hand.

But investors came charging back one day later – sending the Bangkok Stock Exchange’s SET index up 11.2 percent. They brushed off any concern the region could be hit with the kind of beating it took during the 1997 and 1998 Asian fiscal crisis.