Stick to energy in developed markets -Emergent AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Investors in established equity markets such as Europe, the United States and Japan should concentrate on energy and energy technology stocks as the boom in commodities continues, Emergent Asset Management said on Wednesday.

David Murrin, chief investment officer at the UK-based hedge fund, said the influence of developed economies was likely to wane as they felt the pinch from a growing shortage of basic resources.

But companies able to benefit from tight energy supplies, alternative energy sources and oil services would perform best.

"The theme I like is energy-technology stories," Murrin told the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit.

"The focus will go to Asia. A new energy system will come out of Japan."

Murrin said European oil rig assets were another big play that Emergent's macro fund had benefited from, but his preference was to increase exposure to developing economies with the raw materials in demand.

"The old emerging markets spreads divergence has collapsed. Forget it. It's now a commodities story," he said.

"It is just the beginning of a theme that is going to dominate for a long time to come, and fuel and oil are at the top of my list," Murrin said, predicting oil to hit $80 a barrel in the coming months.