Iran conflict exposes concentration risk in Asia-heavy emerging markets

The U.S.–Iran military conflict has driven oil higher and highlighted that broad emerging markets ETFs are heavily skewed toward Asia (China, Taiwan, India, South Korea), creating concentration risk as tech-heavy stocks like TSMC and Samsung dominate the index; volatility in South Korea has surged amid energy-supply concerns, while strategists advocate a barbell approach—maintaining Asia exposure while adding Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia) to diversify and potentially benefit from cheaper valuations.