The COVID-19 pandemic presents emerging markets with a colossal challenge. This challenge is not of their own making, and the way out won't be easy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said as much in late June, lowering its forecast for growth in emerging and developing economies for both 2020 and 2021, even as it raised its 2021 forecast for advanced economies.

Of course, individual emerging markets are more different than they are alike, and the pace and trajectory of recovery are likely to vary, perhaps significantly, from region to region and country to country. The progression of COVID-19, more than anything else, will dictate the terms. But all is not lost for emerging markets, or for patient investors who embrace the greater risk/reward trade-offs that these markets can provide.