While emerging markets receive more publicity, frontier markets, which are pre-emerging markets, have outperformed their more developed brethren so far this year.

The MSCI Frontier Markets Index has gained 17.7 percent this year, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has logged a 4.8 percent loss.

Frontier markets include countries such as Argentina, Bulgaria and Kenya.

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Emerging markets have been hit by talk of the Federal Reserve tapering its bond buying. But the low liquidity of frontier markets worked in their favor, according to the Financial Times.

That lack of trading volume necessitates small positions and makes those positions more difficult to unload, so fund managers tend to dump their holdings in bigger markets during turbulent periods, David Grayson, CEO of brokerage Auerbach Grayson, tells the paper.

"Unless you’re liquidating your entire portfolio, you tend to leave your frontier positions," he explains.

Some of the frontier market gains simply represent a rebound from past losses, Sven Richter, head of frontier markets at Renaissance Asset Managers, tells the FT.

Even after their gains this year, frontier markets stand almost 50 percent below their pre-financial crisis high. Emerging markets sit less than 20 percent below their peak.

Some experts say that with growth slowing in emerging markets, you'd do better in frontier markets.

"Going forward, you'll have to shift at least a third of your emerging-market stake into a fund such as iShares MSCI Frontier 100 (Ticker: FM) to give your foreign portfolio the pop you're used to," writes Paul Lim in Money Magazine.

By doing this, he adds, "you'll gain some diversification, as frontier markets don't move in sync with more established ones."

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