The possibility of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in December and the US elections in November will keep markets volatile, according to, chairman and head of Asia Pacific, the world 's biggest asset manager. In an interview withandHong Kong-based Ryan Stork, who is part of the asset manager's global executive committee, spoke on various subjects, including Brexit and the outlook for India and China . Edited excerpts:Our expectation is that we will see a December move. There are two points I will make: one is that post the December move, it would be gradual. I don't think there will be an exponential rise in shortterm rates. The US Fed as well as the other central banks around the world are increasingly aware of the impacts outside of their countries, relative to the impacts that are occurring in the domestic markets. That is healthier in the context of where the monetary policy is going to go and when will those moves take place.Our expectation is that it won't be aggressive. There will be a move in December, and after that, I think, there will be a pause and reevaluation. The Fed will wait for reflation and continued job growth before making any serious moves thereafter. But I don't expect it to be aggressive.There are a few components to the increasing demand in EM ­ both debt and equities. There has been quite a significant amount of supply that has moved into both components of the EM capital markets in the last six-nine months. That's been a function of a quest for yield and return. Post Brexit, we saw a lot of cash flow into EM debt and equities. We are still quite optimistic, in particular on EM equities but still selectively, there's continued demand in EM debt that we would foresee. That's also both an absolute opportunity and also relative to where expected returns are going to be.I don't see a race to the bottom in global currencies. You saw this in Janet Yellen's remarks back in the first quarter of last year where as and when the Fed moves, they were quite conscious of the fact that the impact would not just be on the US dollar but on currencies relative, too, around the world.You see more stability in the renminbi, more stability in the rupee.You are going to see at least an awareness about the currency impact around the world as central banks run out of effectiveness in further monetary stimulus. I don't think there will be enormous volatility in global currencies..There are two aspects to that -bank debt and investors in the credit space. From our perspective, there is more great opportunity to invest in the debt markets, both in China and Asia more broadly. I think that trend of quest for income, quest for yield will continue. You see performance of China credit, both onshore as well as offshore do reasonably well relative to the rest of the Asian debt markets. I think that is still going to be a market -both in the public as well as private sector.I would think so. There is a need for China to balance both reform and growth. While there will be periods of volatility, China will be an amazing market as you see capital market reform, as you see additional opportunities to invest in local markets. But also as we sit here in India the need for developed market investors to invest in Asia -whether that is China, India or Asia more broadly -as a market that has attractive growth opportunities, attractive yields relative to other markets and growth exceeding that of most markets -developed or developing -around the world. You will see increased demand for Asian fixed income and Asian equities over the course of the next 1224 months.Zero or negative rate policies are very bad for long-term savers. You look at individuals, you look at insurance companies and pension funds that are generally long-term savers around the world. Rate policies that don't offer attractive yields for these long-term investors are creating a big dilemma in society.You can see the impact of continued monetary stimulus lose its impact and effectiveness in the marketplace. Unless it is married with increased reform and increased fiscal stimulus in the very near future, it will be a problem for those long-term investing markets and individuals more broadly.Generally, yes. As investors, you look to those markets that have negative interest rates.Unless that is going to be married quite quickly with additional fiscal stimulus, the effectiveness of just using monetary policy to spur growth is increasingly challenged. You see certain markets running out of an ability to con tinue to stimulate growth unless they move to a fiscal framework. They'll lose their ability to continue to increase growth in those markets.There is a broader theme of increased political risks leading to increased volatility across the globe -whether it is Brexit, US elections or in other markets the political uncertainty and geo-political risk is going to increase volatility in the investing universe. It means that we're likely to see an economic impact in the UK but that is going to increase or spur additional investments in developing markets, emerging market (EM) equities and EM debt are examples. But that volatility will also create opportunities. But in the longer term, the economic impact of Brexit is going to be an expense on the UK. But that is going to take quarters and years. While we don't know the exact impact, you know that with that degree of at least uncertainty, it is going to create volatility.I would not be so strong to say that it has created a precedent. But additional political risk and additional volatility will definitely occur. Will that encourage other countries or states to take a similar path? We know that the economic times we live in are increasingly difficult and that is leading to discussions around additional populism or nationalism in certain countries. In creating some respects, a debate around globalisation versus a retrenchment to onshore markets and that's become a political tool and that is creating more volatility. But does it set a precedent? That may be one correlation too far.Do I think there will be more near-term volatility? Yes -regardless of who is elected. You have already started to see, and this may not be a 100% correlation, but there is some pullback in US equities in the last few weeks.That may be individuals taking some chips off the table leading into the elections. That is not a surprise. But post election, it is difficult to say that, depending upon who is in office, that there will be a specific trend to fixed income or to equity performance. Given the lowering of expected returns, you're likely to see continued correlation coupled with the prospects of the Fed raising (rates) in December, you're likely to see the performance of the fixed income and equity markets become more correlated.It is! From a Blackrock Asset allocation perspective, be it in the equity space across our Asian business or in the multi-asset context, we have been positive on local bonds , in Indian fixed income and Indian equities. Many developed countries are running out of monetary policy to perform. India still has the ability -while we have seen one move on rates earlier this month --depending on what happens with inflation here -it has both monetary policy reforms and fiscal reforms. You still have two levers to pull within the Indian economy with the economy growing roughly 7%. There aren't many countries around the world that have the flexibility from both a monetary and a fiscal perspective and a growth rate that is roughly 7%. It is also a fundamentally driven market where one can look at the passive versus active opportunity. The opportunity to be rewarded and generate alpha is very strong.Related to the rest of the world -fewer. From a reform perspective one of the questions asked is, could we go faster? But as an investing market, relative to most developing or developed markets, there are as many or more opportunities here as we have seen across Asia as a region.India is one of the brightest markets in the region. It is an incredible opportunity and that is not just tomorrow but over the long term. It is an opportunity to not just invest in the public markets but also look to what is happening in the private credit space, private equity (PE) markets, what is happening in infrastructure.