There is no shortage of grand narratives around emerging markets. This isn't one of them. Below are the straightforward charts many macro strategists look at when evaluating EM: long-term performance, valuations, flows, positioning, earnings revisions and monetary policy. One important caveat: these charts largely ignore the AI transformation now taking place inside the benchmark, where TSMC, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Tencent and Alibaba account for more than one-third of the index and increasingly drive EM's fortunes alongside the global AI cycle.