One stock she favors is Syngenta (SYT), a Swiss biotech that, through sales of seeds and crop-protection products such as herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, tries to boost yields from the diminishing supply of arable land. "Because of climate change -- and because of the increasing global population -- we believe that companies in this business will have superior pricing power," Maisonneuve says.

That's why she has invested in Arcelor Mittal (MT), the world's largest steel company, formed by the merger of India's Mittal and Europe's Arcelor in 2006. "It is a very contrarian call in this environment," she admits. "But demand for steel is growing as the developed economies slow. Steel prices are rising, and China is slowing its exports. This is part of the way to play demographic change and the emergence of "Chindia."

Mining giant Rio Tinto (RTP) is another core holding and a similarly contrarian bet on the ability of the emerging markets to continue to grow, even if the U.S. is in a recession.

Investments in companies like Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) and Switzerland's Roche Holding (ROG.Switzerland), give Maisonneuve's clients a stake in companies that sell generic drugs in emerging and developed markets. "Everywhere, the demand for generic drugs, for vaccines, is growing," she says.