The firm has postponed a reclassification of both South Korea and Taiwan as developed markets until its 2012 review. The decision means that the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index (VEIEX), the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE: VWO), and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) are unlikely to undergo a major revision this year. South Korea is the world’s 15th largest economy as measured by GDP and Taiwan is the 24th largest. Of course if China, Russia, India, and Brazil, all ranked in the top 12 are still considered emerging markets, then it makes some sense to leave South Korea and Taiwan among the group.

Both Taiwan and South Korea were held back by what MSCI terms “accessibility issues”  such as currency convertibility.

Other funds with significant exposure to emerging markets in Asia are Driehaus Emerging Markets Growth Fund (DREGX), where 36% of total assets of $857 million are held in emerging Asia markets. Larger funds are also heavily weighted toward emerging Asia. The T.Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund (PRMSX) holds nearly 34% of its total assets of $5.9 billion in emerging Asia, and the American Funds New World A fund (NEWFX) holds about 25% of its $22 billion in total assets in emerging Asia markets.

The top South Korean holding in all three of these funds is Samsung Electronics. Taiwanese companies don’t figure in as high or as consistently, with DREGX going for Taiwan Mobile, PRMSX going for Hon Hai Precision Ltd., and NEWFX opting for HTC Corp., as their top picks from Taiwan.

Another large fund we looked at yesterday, Oppenheimer Developing Markets A (ODMAX), currently has Taiwan’s HTC Corp., the leading maker of smartphones that use Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system, at the top of its holdings. Samsung is the third largest holding of VEIEX and China’s largest mobile carrier, China Mobile Ltd., is the fund’s fourth largest holding.

One thing all these stocks have in common is their focus on technology and communications, where both South Korea and Taiwan are very strong. Taiwan Mobile is that country’s leading mobile phone carrier and Hon Hai makes iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc. Samsung Electronics is another large provider of Android-based smartphones.

The market for smartphones is exploding and expected to continue growing for some time. If South Korea and Taiwan were elevated to developed market status, almost all the high-performing stocks of smartphone manufacturers would disappear from the emerging market indexes and fund portfolios. And they wouldn’t be easy to replace with stocks of equal quality.

For now, though, MSCI has issued both the stocks and the portfolios a reprieve for at least another year. But some re-shuffling could occur between now and next June  when MSCI reviews its classifications again.

Paul Ausick

24/7 Wall St. looked at the "Best Funds" lists of the publications that have for years devoted a tremendous amount of their editorial effort to evaluating mutual funds. We conducted a "meta-data" study to find out which funds were on more than one list. The number was very small.

Forbes, Money, Smart Money, and Kiplinger do not have much in common in the ways they measure performance. Some of the ratings are based on simple one-year returns. Others weigh in multi-year performance. Still others look at performance volatility. Some funds are measured on how they will fit into a portfolio mix to drive the best and safest long-term pay-back.

Here are the nine funds that made more than one list

Matthews China Fund (MCHFX) Designed to be a long-term China investment which keeps over two-thirds of its capital in securities from that country. On the Smart Money and Forbes lists.

CMG Focus (CGMFX)  Long-term appreciation focused and tends to invest in equities of a small number of companies at any one time. On the Forbes, Smart Money, and Kiplinger lists.

Harbor Bond International (HABDX) Invests for total return, primarily in corporate and government bonds in the US and overseas. On the Money and Kiplinger lists.

T Rowe Price Equity Income (PRFDX) Invests in well-established companies with higher than normal yields. On the Money and Kiplinger lists.

Dodge & Cox International (DODFX)  Invests for principle and income growth with 80% of assets from outside US. On both the Money and Kiplinger lists.

Fairholme Fund (FAIRX) Invests in no more that 25 equities at one time. May take positions in convertible preferred shares. On Kiplinger and Money lists.

T Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock (PRMSX) Invests for long-term growth of capital. Eighty percent of investment in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and Middle East. On Kiplinger and Money lists.

Oakmark International (OAKIX) Invests in common stocks of companies in at least five countries outside the US at any one time. On Money and Kiplinger lists.

Muhlenkamp (MUHLX) Buys stock and fixed income in companies it believes are undervalued. On both Money and Kiplinger lists.

Additional fund description data from Money.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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