SINGAPORE: Morgan Stanley said investors should "stick with the BRICs" and add to their holdings in China and Russia as faster economic growth will allow emerging-market stocks to catch up to developed-market gains this year.

"Stick with the BRICs", strategists led by Jonathan Garner wrote in a report, referring to Brazil, Russia, India and China. "BRIC tends to outperform in non-recession years such as the 2003 to 2007 period, whilst it has underperformed in recession years."

The brokerage raised its recommended "overweight" in Chinese and Russian equities relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to 2.15 percent, compared with 2 percent and 1.65 percent respectively.