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Latin American equity funds have outshone other regions, having risen 91% so far this year, according to the MSCI emerging markets index. The next best performing region is emerging Europe, which is up 83%. Asia’s markets have surged 65% up to November 12. Douglas Cairns, investment specialist for global emerging markets and Asia at Threadneedle, believes there are further gains to be made. He says: "Looking ahead we are still positive on Latin equities – valuations in Brazil are cheaper than their Asian counterparts and effectively the cost of capital is higher in Latin America than in other emerging markets and therefore competition is slightly less and returns on capital are often higher. Growth prospects are very good too." Threadneedle is overweight in Brazilian consumer discretionary and financial stocks.