The global equity markets faced serious concerns over the last few months - stemming from fears over the health of the Chinese economy. Last week's Black Monday stirred fresh fear into the pot - but, are there opportunities to be had for the brave investor? 

Europe

Europe’s troubles rarely seem to be far from over, be it the sovereign debt crisis or wider global economic problems. The recent chaos in the Chinese quarter also affected European shores – with this August marking the worst month in European equities markets since 2011, according to FE Trustnet data.

However the region continues to look attractive when you compare to other developed markets, and the euro’s weakness will certainly help European companies’ profit margins.

Fund pick - The Blackrock European Dynamic fund invests in various different types of European companies – and is not constrained by company size or sector. The fund is one of the most aggressive strategy that the European equity team manages.

It tends to outperform its peers during a rising market, according to FE Research analysts, but can be quite sensitive to severe sell-offs in Europe. The manager likes business that derive a bulk of their earnings from outside of Europe – which should help the fund provide decent returns from continued euro weakness.

Read about the Europe funds hit the hardest from the recent market slump...

Japan

Although relations between the Japanese and the Chinese are still relatively strained when it comes to politics, there has certainly not been any of that tension when it comes to how closely the two equity markets mirror the other when reacting to negative sentiment.

Japanese markets felt the recent equity slump keenly, with the Nikkei 225 down some 7.13 per cent in August, according to FE Analytics. The TOPIX was down 6.25 per cent over the same period.

Still, the country is going through a period of notable structural reform and there is still a possibility of more quantitative easing. Japanese companies are also set to benefit from a weaker yen.

Fund pick - One fund that has benefitted from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reforms is the £592m Neptune Japan Opportunities portfolio, managed by FE Alpha manager Chris Taylor. Taylor celebrated a decade in charge of the five FE Crown rated fund back in May 2005, and is being tipped by many as the man to make the most of Abe’s policies. 

This fund is entirely shaped around Taylor’s macro-economic view that the country has no choice but to depreciate its currency to increase the value of overseas earnings, and thus pay higher corporation tax. Taylor has a hedge against the yen as a result, which should protect sterling investors if the yen does depreciate.

Emerging markets

Investors have been shying away from emerging markets for a period now – certainly since EM equities started to look relatively pricier than their developed counterpart.

But in recent months emerging market equities, indeed global equities, have had a torrid time of it lately. Volatility continues to plague emerging markets as concerns over China’s role as a world economic driver are up for question. EMs are especially sensitive to a slowdown in China, as economic strength In China typically means growth in EM economies.

A strong US dollar and a pending interest rate rise is also making investing in EMs rather less attractive now – but for investors looking to buy and hold, Ems can possibly provide growth over the longer term.

Fund pick - The Fidelity Emerging Market fund is built on detailed analysis of individual companies by 50 analysts who specialise in different industries in three emerging market regions: Latin America, Emerging Asia and Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The best ideas are used to create regional portfolios and the best of the best for this general emerging markets fund, managed by Nick Price. The manager focuses on company-specific analysis to generate returns, looking for companies which generate consistent profits in good and bad economic environments.