'Imagineering' emerging markets financial knowledge networks in Singapore and London

Abstract

This thesis problematises a??emerging marketsa?? (EMs) as an investment category, by exploring the geographical a??imagineeringa?? that goes into its construction, circulation and maintenance. Focusing on Asian a??EMsa??, I examine how fund managers, brokers and research analysts rely on a combination of texts, analytical structures, codified procedures and social networks to generate various perspectives that inform their actions. These processes have significant implications for the (re)positioning of Singapore as a financial hub for the Asia-Pacific region. Utilising a process-based approach and concepts of networks from economic sociology, actor-network theory and the recent a??relational turna?? in geography, I investigate how a??EMsa?? as an investment category is imagined and practiced by those in the fund management industry through knowledge networks. Analysis and discussions are drawn from interviews conducted with fund managers and brokers in Singapore and London, in which linkages, connections and forms of competition and power relations amongst these actors are explored.