EM exposure hurts Aberdeen and Ashmore Asset management groups with high exposure to emerging markets have underperformed against other investment companies since talk of the US Federal Reserve reeling in its asset purchase programme started in May. The sharp divergence in performance is best highlighted by Europe's two biggest listed asset management groups, Schroders and Aberdeen Asset Management. Schroders, which has a broad range of assets all over the globe, has only suffered a share price fall of 6 per cent since the end of May. The shares of Aberdeen, which is heavily focused in the emerging markets, have dropped 26 per cent over the same period. Schroders has performed in line with the FTSE 100, which has also dipped 6 per cent since the end of May, while Aberdeen has markedly underperformed. Both groups are listed on the FTSE 100. The FTSE Emerging Market Index has dropped 11 per cent since May. An analyst at a European bank said: "I don't see this as a problem for groups like Aberdeen and Ashmore [another emerging market focused group] as they have been some of the best performers in the past decade. But uncertainty, whether it is over tapering or anything else, does tend to hit emerging markets. Ashmore's shares have fallen 21 per cent since the end of May. Other big listed groups, which are not heavily exposed to the emerging markets, have also done much better. Shares in Jupiter Fund Management have fallen 2.5 per cent, while the stock of Henderson Global Investors has dropped 2.2 per cent. The group that has performed most impressively since May is another non-emerging market specialist, F&C Asset Management. Its shares have enjoyed a jump of 16 per cent since the end of May. The sell-off in the emerging markets has hit a number of asset classes, with equities, currencies and bonds all suffering. The Indian rupee, the Indonesian rupiah and the Turkish lira have also been hit by the uncertainty over the end of quantitative easing, or tapering, in the US. Ashmore, for example, has a big operation in Turkey, which in part explains its underperformance, while Aberdeen is heavily exposed to Asia. However, market moves have not been entirely influenced by the tapering debate.