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Luiz Ribeiro, DWS:“Once the reforms are approved, we could see a ’rerate’ in the Brazilian equity markets similar to the one experienced in India”

The social security reform proposed by Bolsonaro’s government and its chances of success have the whole region in suspense. Luiz Ribeiro, CFA Managing Director Head of Latin American Equities of DWS, is an expert in the field who shared in an exclusive interview with Funds Society his vision on this and many other topics.

Ribeiro informs us that DWS has recently changed its recommendation for emerging markets to overweight, due to, on one hand, the change in the FED’s tone that is willing to maintain low rates for longer and, on the other, the growth expectations for emerging markets compared to developed markets that are currently at the end of the cycle.

“Market consensus for earnings growth in EM in general is 5% for 2019 and 12% for 2020. If you look at Latam is 22% this year and 10% next year. You don’t see that in developed markets any more, it is difficult to find”, emphasizes Ribeiro.

For Ribeiro, the situation in Brazil explains the fall in expected earnings in the Latin American region from 2019 to 2020, although he believes that it is very likely that the market consensus will change if the reforms are approved.

The Bolsonaro’s government change

Ribeiro stresses the important change that Bolsonaro’s new government has meant for the country since it is the first center-right government since the end of the dictatorship. “We have an ultraliberal economist leading the economy now, we never had that before. The economic team led by Paul Guedes is very strong and as such he has even been able to attract people from the previous government who are excellent technicians. The team is great with a liberal mindset and that makes a difference” explains Ribeiro.

Among other things, he highlights the importance that the new economic team gives to the fiscal deficit and to reducing the size of the state in general, which to Ribeiro, are the main challenges the Brazilian economy is facing. However, approving these reforms is not going to be an easy process, since, for example, the social security reform is a constitutional change that requires the approval of the 3/5 of the lower house.

In spite of everything, Ribeiro is optimistic and trusts the capacity of the Brazilians to react when they are against the wall. “Both this government and the previous one have done a very good job explaining the reasons why we need to do it. Among the population there is a growing consensus that this need to be done. “

Reforms and savings proposal

Spending on social security accounts for more than half of government expenditure and is growing at a good pace. “We believe that in a few years it can reach 100% if we do not stop that growth,” says Ribeiro. Thus, the reform presented by Bolsonaro is a very aggressive reform in terms of objectives, with expected savings (less expenses), even higher than what the market expected and above the 500.000 million reals of the reform presented by the previous government.

“The proposal considers a saving of about 1.1 billion reais for the next 10 years. It is a very comprehensive reform that, if approved, assumes that there will be no more worry in the next 10 years. Maybe it’s a negotiation tactic and this number will be diluted somehow. Anything above 600,000-700,000 million reals is great in our opinion. “

Among the challenges that the reform faces, Ribeiro points out the unfairness of the system that benefits a few, and that minority is very well represented in Congress and therefore can exert much pressure in the lower house. To this we must add that the government is using a new strategy that implies not giving anything in return in the negotiations and implies that the different parties give in for the common good. “We do not know how this will work, it is generating a lot of noise in the congress and the parties are mentioning they are not happy “

The reform needs 316 votes to be approved in Congress, and the market currently discounts that it is approved in June to which Ribeiro adds that “if it is delayed, the market in the short term will suffer”.

Privatizations and tax reform

But this is not the only important reform that the Brazilian government must carry out. Privatizations and tax reform are also very necessary, according to Ribeiro. Thus, he expects that a value of privatizations “between 90,000-100,000 million dollars in the next three years is feasible” despite the fact that Guedes has estimated the value of state companies at 1 billion reais.

Some of these privatizations have already been carried out such as the subsidiaries of Petrobras and the recent auction of 3 groups of airports, thank to which, the state obtained 2,000 million reais at a price 10 times higher than the minimum price and with a significant participation of foreign investors, what has been considered a success. But there’s still a lot to do.

Regarding the tax reform, the government’s objective is to simplify the system to reduce tax evasion, in addition to granting more collection power to municipalities and regional governments. Thanks to this, Ribeiro affirms that the government “is going to receive a lot of support from mayors and regional governments to do it. This also helps social security reforms because they will put pressure on their congressmen to vote in favor of the reforms. “

Equity markets

Specifically, and turning into the equity markets, Ribeiro estates that local investors are more optimistic than foreigners, as for example shows the increasing percentage of mutual funds portfolios that are allocated to equities. However, he points out the importance of investment as an element of growth and estimates that it will not pick up until the uncertainty regarding the reforms is mitigated, so he expects that “Brazilian economic activity will remain slow during the first half of the year and only pick up during the second half of the year. “

With respect to market valuations, the PE ratio of the Brazilian market is more or less in line with the historical average of the last 4 years, which for Ribeiro means “it is not a bargain, but it is not expensive”.

Ribeiro compares the current situation in Brazil to what happened in India after the elections and believes that there is a possibility of “rerate” in the Brazilian market. “Once the reforms are approved, the risk perception goes down and we have probably a higher growth that will lead the markets to trade at a higher PE than before. 13-15 times benefits is feasible if the reforms are approved.”” We will have a market that will trade at higher multiples together with higher earnings. That combination will lead to good returns for investors and the equity markets, we think “, concludes Ribeiro.

Regarding their preference for sectors, Ribeiro explains that because they are positive regarding the Brazilian economy, they like domestic companies. The consumer sector, “utilities”, and smaller players in the Fintech segment are among their favorites.

Finally, Ribeiro acknowledges that volatility will remain high in the region for the next 3-6 months, but in his opinion “exploring volatility is positive, bargains may appear from time to time. If you know how to navigate that volatility is not necessarily negative, “concludes Ribeiro

Allianz GI Will Talk About Active Management for Structured Products at the Investments & Golf Summit 2019

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Allianz GI hablará sobre gestión activa en productos estructurados durante el Investments & Golf Summit 2019 — Foto cedidaGreg Tournant, courtesy photo. Allianz GI Will Talk About Active Management for Structured Products at the Investments & Golf Summit 2019

With one of the largest stand-alone equity-index options managers team in the field, at Allianz GI they use simple, liquid instruments to pursue returns regardless of the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Their nine-member investment team is tenured and experienced, managing options-based strategies for institutional investors since 2005.

On May 7th, during the Investments Day at Funds Society’s Investments & Golf Summit Greg Tournant, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and CIO US Structured Products, will talk about the benefits of this asset class.

He joined Allianz GI in 2002. He is also head of the Structured Products team. Tournant has 23 years of investment industry experience. From 2007 to 2008 he served as co-CIO at Innovative Options Management, where he worked with the team in a sub-advisory capacity. Before that, Tournant worked at Eagle Asset Management, McKinsey & Co. and Raymond James. He has a B.S. from Trinity University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Allianz Global Investors has over 730 investment professionals in 25 offices worldwide and manages $577 billion in assets for individuals, families and institutions.

For more information and/or to register for the Investments & Golf Summit 2019, follow this link.

AXA IM Will Talk About Opportunities Created by Digital Disruption at the Investments & Golf Summit

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AXA IM hablará de disrupción digital en el Investments & Golf Summit — Foto cedidaMatthew Lovatt, Global Head of Framlington Equities, AXA IM. AXA IM Will Talk About Opportunities Created by Digital Disruption at the Investments & Golf Summit

AXA IM will talk about investment opportunities in the evolving economy as a result of the digital disruption at Funds Society’s sixth Investments & Golf Summit.

Changing demographics and technological disruption have accelerated the trend towards thematic investment in recent years as the historical boundaries of sectors have become increasingly less relevant. According to the firm, global equity unconstrained investors looking through this thematic lens can clearly identify the disruptors from the disrupted; or as they term it the ‘old economy,’ where companies maintain more traditional approaches, and the ‘evolving economy,’ which consists of firms who have embraced these fast changes.

AXA’s Digital Economy strategy is focused on the e-commerce value chain and digital transformation of traditional businesses.

Matthew Lovatt, Global Head of Framlington Equities, AXA IM, will be at the summit to explain everything regarding the strategy. Appointed in June 2018 as Global Head of Framlington Equities, the active stock picking expertise of AXA IM, Matthew is also a member of the Management Board of AXA IM. Matthew has 30 years of investment experience and joined AXA IM in 2004. He started his career in Equity Research at Henderson, before developing an equity hedge fund business. He holds a BSc in Economics with Statistics from Bristol University.

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is an active, long-term, global multi-asset manager. We work with clients today to provide the solutions they need to help build a better tomorrow for their investments, while creating a positive change for the world in which we live. With approximately $860 billion in assets under management as of the end of September 2018, AXA IM employs nearly 2,400 employees around the world and operates out of 30 offices across 21 countries. AXA IM is part of the AXA Group, a world leader in financial protection and wealth management.

The sixth edition of Funds Society’s Investments & Golf Summit will take place on May 6th-8th at the Streamsong Resort and Golf. For registration follow this link.

Nick Clay (Newton IM): “We Try to Clash the ‘Fear of Missing Out’, What We Take Away Is What Matters Most”

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According to Nick Clay, leader Portfolio Manager of the BNY Mellon Global Equity Income Fund, in terms of market volatility, 2019 will be a similar year to 2018. At the end of last year, the hawkish tone of the speeches and press conferences of the US Federal Reserve was largely responsible for the sell-off of the market. Conversely, the strong rebound at the start of this year, has been backed on the news that the Fed decided to stop its rate hike cycle.

“The central banks may be returning to some sort of stimulus. The problem is that interest rates are peaking when they are so low, about a 2% interest rate in the US, 0% in Japan and -0,4% in the Euro Zone. This is telling us that we are in a very low growth world, that demographics are against us and that technology and disruption are not adding to productivity to the economy. It should not be much of a cause for celebration. So, I was a bit amazed by the rebound in markets, but I was not surprised. Because after 10 years of Quantitative Easing, both financial assets and markets have got used to central banks feeding them with monetary stimulus, and the fact that central banks are there to feed them again means that markets go up. At this moment, the market just assumes we are returning to 2017, when we were in a Goldilocks market” explained Clay.

Fiscal spending and populisms

Now, Modern Monetary Theory’ advocates posit that economies can be stimulated by spending on activity and infrastructure and that new money can be printed to pay the bills. And they see nothing wrong with this theory, while the equity portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management finds it slightly incredible. But, in Clay’s opinion, it seems that this is the new central theory and certainly populist governments will seize upon it.

“In the past, populist governments got in to power on false promises. Once they were in power, they realized they could not deliver, mainly because there was no funding. But this time, they are going to have access to the funding, and they are going to start to deliver in the initial promise, which is going to be the fiscal spending. Although there will not be economic growth or prosperity, because it will be spent on projects that are not productive, it would certainly get some spending in the economy, allowing the populism government to stay in power for longer than anyone may think. Trump may be a very good example.”

The buy and sell disciplines

At the BNY Mellon Global Equity Income Fund, all new holdings must have a prospective yield greater than the FTSE World Index yield, which is currently at a level of 2,6%, and any holding whose prospective yields falls below the FTSE World Index yield will be sold.

An example of a stock recently bought in the portfolio would be Cisco Systems, who has a prospective yield of 3,5%. Also, Cisco has 20% of its market capitalization in cash, and it offers almost double-digit free cash flow yield of 9%. “We need to establish if all the headwinds that could be faced by the company have already been priced in by the market. We also need to establish whether Cisco can and will survive.”

As for the example of a recently sold stock in the portfolio, in the first half of 2018, the strategy sold Ralph Lauren. “When we bought Ralph Lauren at the beginning of 2017, the company needed to shrink its business to make it profitable again. They had overdistributed their products and lost control of pricing. Their margins were under pressure, however, the brand itself was not damaged. They were able to shrink their distribution sales lines and the amount of product in the market, regaining control of pricing and improving their margins. Their stock price recovered, and now its valuation shows that the firm needs to grow to make money, which they may well do, but that is a different investment thesis that depends on the consumer wanting to buy their products.”

The bountiful and broken buckets

The strategy distinguishes between the bountiful and broken buckets. The philosophy, the investment themes, fundamental analysis and the buy and sell disciplines are applied to the ‘bountiful’ buckets, which contains companies that are statistically attractive, whereas the broken bucket comprises statistically unattractive firms.

Investing is a statistical endeavor, meaning that, as the academic evidence shows, even the most successful fund managers in the world, only get their investment thesis right 52% of the time, showing how random is the industry. With such a surprisingly low rate of success, one would wonder how fund managers are able to make money. The answer, according to Clay, is that the 48% of the time that their investment thesis goes wrong, fund managers do not put that much money in the first place because they understand the risks of that investment. While the in other 52% that their investment thesis goes right, they got more money in.

“Instead of allowing us freedom to invest anywhere, we restrict the areas of the market where we search for opportunities. We try to clash the ‘fear of missing out’ approach and we embrace the Michelangelo approach, what we take away is what matters most. It is not enough to buy high return on investment capital companies, we need to buy these companies when they are out of fashion, when something is going wrong or either being presented cheaply to us. This may sound like an obvious thing to do but is something very difficult. Because when something is going wrong is uncomfortable to buy these companies. A lot of work is needed to understand if these companies are going wrong because they are broken, at which point you would want to avoid them, that would be the case of Nokia or Kodak, or if it is just a temporary problem, and therefore an opportunity,” he explained.

An example of a growth company that is temporarily falling out of favor, would be Qualcomm, the 5G provider is embroiled with a lawsuit with Apple and China has banned them from making an acquisition. All these problems weight on its share price, but Qualcomm still is a very good business and still has a high return on invested capital. The decision here, according to Clay, is to decide whether the lawsuit with Apple is going to destroy its business or whether the company would be able to survive without Apple.

Another example would be companies that are currently ex-growth companies, but they still are high return companies. That would be the case of Pepsi Co, a company whose power and durability have been underestimated by the market and that is temporarily undergoing a slowdown in its growth.

“Pepsi has been under a lot of pressure because of the fear and concerns about sugar taxes and sugar being the new tobacco. When the reality is that Pepsi Cola, the fizzy drink, only represents 10% of Pepsi Co, the company. Their snack business and distribution network are their most valuable assets. Pepsi is 14,5 times larger than the number two snack player in the market, which is Kellogg’s. The investment thesis that you are buying with Pepsi is that, in the future, regardless of the eating preferences of the people, Pepsi Co will be the firm distributing food to us, because they dominate the distribution channel.

Similarly, when we bought McDonalds in our portfolio, we bought the value of their property portfolio and their distribution business, with which they can attend to people’s demand for a healthier diet.

When a company has shown high return on invested capital and growth multiples but only as the result of a temporary fad, as it was the case for Crocs or Moleskine, or when a company’s returns can’t remain stable because their business is shrinking so fast, as it was the case for Kodak or Nokia, then the company belongs to the broken bucket category”.

Income as protection

Total return is made up on two things, capital appreciation and income. The Newton Global Equity Income Fund harnesses the ability to compound dividends year over year and it also delivers a less-volatile returns series.

“In the long term, the dividend growth rate compounds in the returns and, over time, the power of compounding dominates the total returns. The other thing that is important to notice is that income is received every year, meaning that it is sustainable and that is going to deliver a return that is less volatile than the market”, he concluded.

M&G to Talk About Multi-Asset Allocation at the Investments & Golf Summit

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M&G hablará de inversiones multiactivo en el Investments & Golf Summit — Foto cedidaChristophe Machu, courtesy photo. M&G to Talk About Multi-Asset Allocation at the Investments & Golf Summit

The sixth edition of Funds Society’s Investments & Golf Summit will take place on May 6th-8th at the Streamsong Resort and Golf.

On May 7th, at the Investment day, participants will be able to take the opportunity to discuss about Global Markets as well as the latest portfolio management strategies and investment ideas from top-performing Asset Managers.

Amogst them is M&G’s Christophe Machu. He will talk about the benefits of multi-asset allocation, and how one can achieve a flexible asset allocation process that looks to manage risk and volatility by constructing a diversified portfolio that can invest in a variety of asset classes.

Machu joined the Multi Asset and Convertibles teams as an associate investment specialist providing support for M&G’s multi-asset fund range and the M&G Global Convertibles Fund in September 2014. He initially joined M&G in 2012 as a sales support in Paris before moving into the International Marketing team in London. Christophe has an MSc in risk and finance from EDHEC Business School.

With over 85 years experience, M&G is one of Europe’s leading asset managers.

For more information and/or to register for the Investments & Golf Summit 2019, follow this link.

Twentyfour AM Will Talk Global Fixed Income at the Investments & Golf Summit 2019

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Twentyfour AM hablará de renta fija global en el Investments & Golf Summit 2019 — Foto cedidaDavid Norris, courtesy photo. Twentyfour AM Will Talk Global Fixed Income at the Investments & Golf Summit 2019

For Twentyfour Asset Management, a multi-sector bond strategy provides an attractive level of income and an opportunity for capital growth by investing in a broad range of bonds from the diverse fixed-income universe.

On May 7th, the company will expose during Funds Society’s Investments & Golf Summit. They will talk about the benefits of a highly flexible approach, and how it provides them exposure to debt instruments from the whole range of fixed-income assets, including investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds, government bonds and asset backed securities.

Both David Norris, Head of US Credit, and John Magrath, Head of Distribution will be at the event.

Based in London, TwentyFour AM is part of Swiss Vontobel Group.

For more information and/or to register for the Investments & Golf Summit 2019, follow this link.

George Moscoso, New Head for LatAm and Southeast US at HSBC Private Banking

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HSBC Private Banking, Americas announced the appointment of George Moscoso as Market Head for Latin America and Southeast US. He will also serve as President of HSBC Private Bank International, pending board and regulatory approval. He will report to Joe Abruzzo, Regional Head of Global Private Banking, Americas.

In his new role, Moscoso will lead the bank’s growth plans in Latin America, which includes the core markets of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, as well as the Southeast US. He will focus on hiring top talent to serve the needs of ultra-high net worth clients and family offices.

“We see significant opportunities in these markets and are committed to investing in our teams here,” said Abruzzo. “George’s extensive experience covering Latin American clients will be instrumental as we look to grow our business and reach more clients in the region.”

Moscoso joined HSBC in 2018 as Market Head for Mexico and Southeast US. He brings nearly three decades of private banking and family office experience to his new role. A Chicago native, he has held leadership positions at Chase, Citibank and Goldman Sachs in New York, Geneva and Miami.

In his most recent role before joining HSBC, Moscoso served as a relationship manager at WE Family Offices in Miami. Prior to that, he was a managing director at Itaú Private Bank where he was responsible for client management and business development for Hispanic markets.

Ulrich Gerhard (Insight Investment): “It Is Important to Stick to the Investment Principles of the Strategy, Regardless of the Circumstances in the Market”

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Ulrich Gerhard, Senior Portfolio Manager of High Yield at Insight Investment, a BNY Mellon company, started his career in the investment industry in 1997. This is to say that he has seen many cycles, including several recessions, and he has seen companies go bankrupt. Something that, in his view, has been proven to be very helpful when managing high yield portfolios.

He joined Insight Investment in September 2011, as a senior credit analyst within the Fixed Income Group and he became a portfolio manager in June 2012, being responsible for the BNY Mellon Global Short-Dated High Yield Bond Fund.

This strategy was moved to the BNY Mellon platform because Insight Investment realized that it could help investors who were one decade away of retirement to make a smooth transition from working income to pension income. Insight Investment had its own distribution capabilities among institutional clients, but it did not have the capillarity on retail and high net worth clients that BNY Mellon offered.

“This strategy was settled in Insight Investment in 2009 for pension fund clients. It has an absolute return target, aiming to provide Libor plus 200 basis points. It was designed to deliver a lower volatility than a traditional high yield strategy and it is better able to withstand spread widening. Nothing has changed since the strategy was created,” said Ulrich.

As for today, Insight’s fund investors are still involved in the strategy as well as some pension funds in Italy and Spain and some savings banks. Additionally, there are some investors in Thailand, Taiwan and Mainland China, which gives the strategy a very well diversified portfolio of investors

The investment philosophy

According to Ulrich, to be successful in the high yield market it’s important to stick to the investment principles of the strategy, following the same pattern repeatedly with the team of fixed income analysts, regardless of the circumstances in the market. That was their strategy during the fourth quarter of 2018, when many managers experimented a big fall in their portfolios because of their hunt for yield. “The strategy sold off in the fourth quarter, but it did not sell off as much as many others. The fund remains positive in US dollars, while a lot of our competitors went negative last year,” he explained.

“It targets more defensive short-dated securities because, when we look at the cash flows of the companies, any forecast over 3 years becomes foggy. We can not estimate how much money a company will earn in 3 years-time, because many things can change in this period, the company may acquire or divest a business. Given that I can have a good visibility of cash flows over the next two years, maybe it is pretty good idea to lend money to companies in that time frame.”

“There are 2.500 companies in the high yield market universe, we are invested in 85, because those are the only ones that meet our criteria at this moment. These criteria discern companies with a good business model from the rest. For that purpose, we use fundamental research and cash flow analysis. The company’s business model needs to be predictable and the CFO of the company needs to understand the risks of liquidity. Stock picking is the key. For us, macro is 10% and bottom-up approach is 90% of what gives value of the portfolio. Because even if we get our top-down right, if we are not able to select the good credit, we will lose money. As simple as that. If we do credit selection right and we avoid defaults, the strategy gets the entire credit yield of spread as income. Since the fund was launched in 2012, we have had credit losses of about 20 basis points, while the market has lost around 200 basis points, as the market experimented a 2,5% default rate last year. We normally invest in companies with single B rating, and we are very cautious on CCC rated companies, since they usually have a risky business model,” he added.

Slowdown, but not recession

Global economy’s growth is slowing down as the growth in China, the Euro Zone and United Kingdom is decelerating. However, Insight Investment expects growth to remain stable in the US, Japan and the main emerging markets (namely Brazil, Russia and India).

In the US, where a 2,4% GDP growth rate is foreseen, the main concern for the economy could be a sudden rise in interest rates, still, in Ulrich’s opinion, this is something very unlikely to happen in this year.

“If the Fed raised interest rates too sudden, it would affect the US Economy and the housing market, and the market will probably go into recession. But I do not think we are there. I do not think that the Fed is going to hike. As long as we invest in companies where a 1% rise in interest rates will not destroy their business model, we are not that concerned about the Fed’s moves because we don’t lend to companies that exist because of financial engineering,” he said.

European high yield

While the European high yield market denominated in sterling pound is totally illiquid at this moment, the European high yield market may have temporary liquidity, although it does not mean that the bonds can be bought and sold at the portfolio managers discretion. “When looking at the investment universe, for the most part, bonds tend to follow bell-shaped distributions, while the European high yield bond universe looks a bit like the back of a camel, you have one bump on the left and another in the right, the one in the left will probably default and the one on the right is already expensive, because everybody owns it. So, from that perspective, investing in US high yield is more attractive. It offers a much diverse universe,” he concluded.

Aberdeen Standard Investments: “Frontier Markets will Generate Good Returns: The Headwinds they Faced in 2018 Have Disappeared”

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Aberdeen Standard Investments: “Los mercados frontera van a generar buenos retornos: han desaparecido los vientos en contra de 2018” — Wikimedia CommonsKevin Daly. Courtesy photo. Aberdeen Standard Investments: "Frontier Markets will Generate Good Returns: The Headwinds they Faced in 2018 Have Disappeared"

Aberdeen Standard Investments currently manages 13 billion dollars in debt from emerging countries. Of these, 195 million come from its border market strategy, which has been underway since September 2013. “There are attractive profitability opportunities in this product by structuring a diversified portfolio of corporate and sovereign bonds in hard currency and debt in local currency,” states Kevin Daly, the asset management company’s Senior Investment Manager in emerging market debt.

In an interview with Funds Society, he assures that this approach allows them to minimize the risks of losses, as they were able to do in 2018, and, at the same time, capture the upside risks, as they forecast for 2019. In that regard, since the beginning of the year, Daly is convinced that the frontier markets will generate good returns during the coming months, since “the headwinds they faced in 2018 have disappeared,” such as the strong growth of the United States, the Fed’s harshness, and concerns about the commercial war.

Daly supports this with the performance of the Aberdeen Standard SICAV I – Frontier Markets Bond Fund, a sicav fund registered in Luxembourg. “So far, everything is going well: it has delivered returns of about 6% so far this year.” The fund obtained a gross negative return of -3.50% in 2018, outperforming the emerging general debt “and most other types of assets.” That figure rises to 8.12% if the average returns since the fund’s creation are taken into account.

The management company points out the short duration of this type of asset and of the fund, with an average of 3.4 years. The fund’s main attraction for investors lies in its ability to generate high revenues: its yield at maturity is 10.1%.

“We manage it with a total-return approach, without comparing ourselves with any reference index and we are committed to a diversified portfolio, which has generated attractive risk- adjusted returns since its creation,” the asset manager points out. According to his account, by not resorting to any reference index, they are not overweight or underweight in countries or regions “per se” but have an allocation limit of 10% per country and another 3% for corporate issuers.

Therefore, the positions of “greater conviction” are those that are around 5% and that, at present, would be countries like Egypt, Nigeria and Ecuador. Daly reveals that the first two provide double-digit returns with stable currencies. Ecuador, meanwhile, “is our strongest debt position in hard currency, as we believe that the country will benefit from the International Monetary Fund’s new support program.” In his opinion, this should help reduce its dependence on market financing.

As for the companies, he points out that there is “great value” in Nigeria and Ukraine. All in all, the portfolio is composed of 68% for debt in hard currency, 14% for corporate debt and 32% in debt in local currency, such as Egypt’s or Nigeria’s. Daly is convinced that the three assets offer attractive value.

The fund is also a good diversification option for Latin American investors who have local individual bonds. For Aberdeen Standard Investments, it can help reduce the volatility of their portfolios and, at the same time, continue to offer high performance.

When asked about the risks faced by these markets, he points out that the largest of them is “idiosyncratic risk”, since frontier bonds and their currencies have historically had a low correlation with US Treasury securities. “Addressing country risk is key to the performance” of this product, says Daly, who says there is an “information gap” when investing in frontier markets.

“Our experience investing in them, which requires continuous diligence and frequent trips to these countries, allows us to take advantage of that gap when it comes to structuring the portfolios,” he says.

Amundi will Cover Multi Asset Income at Funds Society’s 2019 Investments & Golf Summit

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The sixth edition of Funds Society’s Investments & Golf Summit will take place on May 6th-8th at the Streamsong Resort and Golf.

Amogst them is a Multi Asset Income talk by Europe’s largest asset manager, Amundi. To them, Multi Asset Income is a potential solution for investors seeking both an attractive level of income and capital appreciation as a secondary objective. “This asset class provides a new way to seek returns and manage risk in uncertain times.”

At the event, both portfolio manager Howard Weiss and sales SVP Thomas Johnston will be present.

As a member of the portfolio management team, Howard works on the implementation of the Fund’s investments, including asset allocation and security selection. In addition, Howard has extensive experience working on the Fund’s derivative structures. Howard joined Amundi Pioneer in 2007.

Johnston is responsible for the distribution of Amundi Pioneer’s UCIT product range in the US Offshore market.

For more information and/or to register for the Investments & Golf Summit 2019, follow this link.