Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund is positioning for a sell-off in emerging markets putting it at odds with the bullish stance adopted by many of Wall Street's larger investment banks including Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Goldman Sachs, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Man Group Plc, which manages $138 billion in assets globally, with around half of that total within EMEA, believes that the rally in risk assets so far this year isn’t supported by improvements in economic fundamentals and that a reversal is likely, as soon as "within the next two months", according to Guillermo Osses, the firm's New York-based head of emerging markets strategies.

Data complied by Bloomberg reveals that Man Group's EM debt fund, which Osses manages, returned 2.4% last year, putting it ahead of 99% of its peers who on average lost 14%. The London-based firms' shares are up 23% so far this year, compared with a 6% gain on the FTSE 100.