Fund file: Risk does not pay
Yield chasers beware. A recent study has found you should ignore accepted wisdom and stay away from high risk investments, including in emerging markets, if you want high returns. A report in Monday’s FTfm examines the new advice. Continue reading »
Fund file: dropping Brics?
The inevitable has come to pass. There is mounting evidence that fund investors are moving ‘beyond Brics’, as a report in Monday’s FTfm reveals.
Equity funds invested in Brazil, Russia, India and China suffered net outflows of $581.4m in the last six months against inflows of $12.5bn to all emerging market equity funds, according to EPFR Global, the fund data provider. Continue reading »
Fund file: Myanmar tempts but is tough
Now that even opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is calling for sanctions to be suspended, the prospect of Myanmar opening up for western foreign investment seems tantalisingly close, as a report in Monday’s FTfm reveals. Continue reading »
Fund file: are Vietnam’s stars aligned?
Hold onto your hats. It looks as though Vietnam has popped up on foreign fund managers’ radars again, as a report in Monday’s FTfm explains.
The Templeton Frontier Markets fund has increased its Vietnam allocation to 8.4 per cent, making the country its fifth largest geographic allocation. And it looks as though it is not alone – the Vietnamese stock market has risen over 34 per cent since the beginning of the year. Continue reading »
Fund file: feeling hedged in in S Korea
When South Korea brought in its hedge fund amendments last year to stimulate the formation of a local industry, many predicted it would grow rapidly and soon overtake the $30bn private equity fund market to reach $40bn-$50bn. But latest indications are that the local hedge fund industry is off to a very slow start, as a report in Monday’s FTfm explains. Continue reading »
Fund file: no sure bet on EM debt funds
Investors who spent last year clamouring for emerging market bonds are cooling off a little, according to a beyondbrics report on latest figures from EPFR Global, the fund flow data provider.
But as a report in Monday’s FTfm suggests, the change in sentiment might not just be due to a new round in the so-called “currency wars”. Instead, it might be that investors have noticed they are not making the sort of money they expected. Continue reading »
Fund file: Indian disappointments
Fund managers in India might be forgiven for feeling a bit pessimistic. First managers endured investor-friendly regulation in 2009 that banned the charging of upfront fees for mutual funds, something managers felt choked off growth.
Now, just as managers were looking forward to profiting from a tax advantaged saving scheme announced earlier this month, latest indications are that they will not, as a report in Monday’s FTfm explains. Continue reading »
Fund file: Egypt, right or wrong?
Egypt numbers are hair-raising for investors. Since the beginning of the year its benchmark index has risen nearly 50 per cent, but those invested in Egypt stocks witnessed falls in the same index of 50 per cent in 2011. Investors must now assess whether a healthy recovery is underway or another crash is coming, as a report in Monday’s FTfm explains. Continue reading »
Fund file: want to win? – pick a loser
Those hoping to gain from currency appreciation while making their forays into emerging market equities and bonds will be interested to hear they may sometimes be barking up the wrong tree, according to a report in Monday’s FTfm.
New research shows that instead of picking a strong currency, such as the Brazilian real, investors might be well advised to scour the bottom of the currencies barrel. Continue reading »
Fund file: bond reality check needed?
The new rush for emerging market bonds being tracked closely by beyondbrics makes you wonder what some investors use instead of memory.
It’s true that with Moody’s having put Austria, France and the UK on negative credit watch last week, some investors might not feel the need for historical perspective. But a little bit of scepticism might be a good thing, and an alternative way of rating credit risk might help deliver it, as a report in FTfm explains. Continue reading »
Fund file: pinning hopes on Poland
Upbeat official statistics for assets under management in Poland’s funds industry are hiding the true picture for 2011, which was a year when retail funds leached cash, according to a report in Monday’s FTfm. But fund managers in the country have not lost hope.
“It won’t be the same story as in 2003-07 when the Poles invested heavily in mutual funds,” says Sebastian Buczek, chief executive of Quercus TFI, an independent Polish fund manager. But he says there are signs of “gradual improvement”. Continue reading »
Fund file: Taiwan’s closing open door
Emerging Asia’s rapidly ageing population of savers offers great promise, foreign fund managers agree, but with the exception of Taiwan there have been few rewards, according to a report in Monday’s FTfm.
A report from Cerulli Associates, the consultancy, spells out what many fund managers have been discovering the hard way: the regulatory problems often overwhelm the potential. Continue reading »
Fund file: Nigeria, mouths and money
Nigeria’s awful start to the year has inspired some to defend the logic of investing there. A beyondbrics post late last week featured an economist from Renaissance Capital, the investment banking arm of emerging market specialist Renaissance Group, saying why it would be wise for investors to hold their nerve.
Nervous investors might be wise, however, to ask whether Renaissance and like minded investment groups are putting their money where their mouth is, or putting their mouths where their money is. Continue reading »
Fund file: small is beautiful
Emerging markets look set to benefit from a fast-growing interest in niche investment opportunities, not least in microfinance.
FTfm reports Oxfam GB is to launch its first-ever investment fund, teaming up with Symbiotics, the Swiss microfinance specialist, to launch the Small Enterprise Impact Investment Fund. The fund will invest in financial intermediaries with a mandate to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa and Asia. Continue reading »
Fund file: Russia ripens
Renowned international fund managers who came to Russia in the past have, often as not, left with their tails between their legs. But now some of them are learning new tricks, according to a report in Monday’s FTfm.
Foreign players – including Pioneer, Templeton, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Russian specialist East Capital – who have opened local operations only to close them, will be looking at forthcoming legislative changes. Continue reading »
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