Both sectors have struggled of late. According to FE Analytics, the MSCI Emerging Markets index has returned 6.24 per cent over three years while the FTSE All Share Mining index has lost 21.34 per cent. This compares with gains of 40.99 per cent from the MSCI AC World index.
Performance of indices over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Experts have varying explanations as to why this has happened, but concern over economic growth in China is regarded as one of the main reasons why sentiment has changed towards both.
Merricks (pictured), who is head of investments at Skerritts Wealth Management, agrees that the two sectors are inter-linked, but warns investors not to think that a turnaround in China will cause commodity prices to soar. "The direction of the dollar is actually more important in determining the movement of commodity prices," Merricks explained.
"If this is correct and, like us, you are expecting the dollar to rise from here, it will have profound implications upon your strategic asset allocation within your investment portfolios towards commodities and, as a by-product, towards emerging markets," he added.
Merricks urges investors to understand the role a weak dollar played during the decade-long bull market for both emerging market equities and commodities and because of that warns that this current period of poor – and in some cases negative – returns could continue for a long time to come.
"There can be no question that in the decade leading up to 2011, we had a perfect storm in a weakening dollar, an explosion in Chinese growth, and importantly, a lack of supply from miners and producers who were coming out of a deep bear market throughout the 90s," he said.
"Commodity producers tend to lag the cycle."
"That is to say, they are about three years behind the line in response time when prices rise, but they are similarly slow to reduce production when prices fall."
"As now, it could be argued, the supply will outstrip commercial viability in some instances as programmes are already in place to produce for a set number of years," he added.
He also says that the argument that slowing growth in China is hindering the performance of commodity stocks is flawed and under-researched.
"Turning to China, it has been well documented that growth is slowing there, which is why many people have associated the slump in commodity prices with Chinese demand. However, if you look at the actual numbers, a slightly different picture emerges."
"The Chinese economy has doubled in seven years and tripled in 13. Its level of imports is thus greatly higher than before. In short, China is still taking in more imports than ever before. So, although growth in China has slowed, the absolute size of Chinese imports is still growing."
"It is hard to pin the slump in commodities to Chinese demand, therefore," Merricks explained.
He adds that the dollar will continue to strengthen and that investors who are buying emerging markets and commodities as a contrarian play should expect to see either sideways or downward performance for some time to come.
"It was US policy to allow the dollar to weaken in the noughties but now, although they do not necessarily want it to happen, it appears that the recovery in the US economy and the possible weaknesses of other main currencies will lead to the dollar strengthening on a consistent basis, reclaiming its title as the best-looking horse in the glue factory," he added.
Nevertheless Ben Willis (pictured), who is head of research at Whitechurch, says that despite fears over a stronger dollar, he is taking another look at commodities because of their valuations.
"We are looking at some commodities purely from an investment perspective, not from a currency point of view," he said. "Commodities have been absolutely battered and companies like miners are completely unloved, which means that large cap miners are now trading on very, very cheap share prices. It could be argued that it is the one true contrarian play left."
"We have seen that managers are starting to dip their toes into the sector. Some are from the income side and others are managers who have historically steered clear, like Julie Dean at Cazenove."
"Chances are, we will also start allocating to miners soon," he added.
Willis says that the emerging markets are tougher to call, but says investors should not just avoid them entirely.
"They are trading on lower valuations than they have previously. Push forward a few years and there is a good chance that they will have recovered ground," he said.
"However, it all depends on the state of the global economy. The US is going to drive the global economic recovery, like it has done in the past. Further down the line, hopefully the world will look healthier and people will begin to turn back to the emerging markets."
"Of course, by that time China should have sorted out its problems such as its financial system. I would say that in a few years’ time, the emerging markets could well have bounced back," he added.