InvestmentsJul 22 2016

Lat Am: Light at the end of the tunnel

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Lat Am: Light at the end of the tunnel

Scorching hot weather and a passion for football are two of the more common visions of Latin America, but in recent years, political and economic turmoil has engulfed the region. Although it is an area still very much in development, Latin America is rich in investment opportunities. But accompanying this are the inherent higher risks of emerging and frontier markets.

According to the Poverty and Equity Databank, Latin American countries have a combined population of 530m and as of 2012 more than 72m people were living in poverty – defined as earnings of less than $3.10 (£2.33) per day. Inhabitants are also highly urbanised, with 80 per cent living in cities. But good investment opportunities are not always the most obvious, and although the region has experienced turbulent economic conditions in recent years, a change appears to be in motion.

With global developments such as Brexit and events such as August’s Olympics Games in Rio, can Latin America continue this burst of growth or is it merely a short-term spike before more years of economic difficulty?

“Most of the challenges have taken place in the past five years with growth close to bottoming in the region,” says John Malloy, emerging markets manager at RWC Partners. He adds Latin American countries are likely to face individual challenges rather than collectively throughout the region. “In Brazil, the government needs to pass painful reforms in Congress to adjust fiscal policy, and in Colombia, higher interest rates could potentially affect growth in the short term.”

Brazil

The success of Brazil, South America’s largest economy, remains pivotal for investors looking for opportunities. Its economy shrank for the fifth consecutive quarter at the start of 2016 after contracting 0.3 per cent, plunging into the deepest recession the country has seen since the 1930s. This is expected to hit 4.3 per cent by the end of 2016 after experiencing a 5.4 per cent drop in 2015.

In addition to this, President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office pending an impeachment trial and many members of congress are facing alleged criminal or corruption charges, leaving the country in disarray.

Devaluation of the currency has only exasperated these concerns, as the real plummeted from 0.40 to 0.16 against sterling between 2010 and 2015. Whether Brazil’s economy has now hit rock bottom is a subject of debate. Experts suggest this occurred in 2015, only for further problems to unfold this year.

“In 2015, Brazil was utterly destroyed – particularly the currency. People thought there was a chance Brazil could end up in genuine mess rather than just being unattractive,” says Ewan Thompson, head of emerging markets at Neptune.

Emerging markets have struggled in the past few years after a blistering performance in the 2000s, and Mr Thompson explains that this was due to strong global growth and a commodity super cycle, driven by the emergence of China as a global force. “The best performers were any country producing commodities, and Brazil was one of the top performers during that period,” he says.

Olympics

Starting this month, arguably the world’s greatest sporting event will be held in a Latin American country for the first time. It is hoped that the Olympics will not only provide a boost to Brazilian infrastructure, but also drag the nation out of its longest recession since the 1930s. However, preparations have so far been hampered by the presidential issues and concerns about the Zika virus.

Struggling to grow

Latin American funds have struggled to perform over the past five years, to the extent that fund managers achieving growth are in the minority. Table 1 shows only one fund in the space has managed to deliver positive returns over the time period – the Stewart Investors Latin America fund, which saw a return of just £1,081 on an initial £1,000 investment, according to FE data. However, while many global investment markets have taken a pounding during the first half of 2016, Latin America has rebounded. Even the lowest-performing Latin American fund has grown by nearly 30 per cent as at 1 July.

“There were several clear developments that fuelled the change,” says Mr Malloy. “Politics are changing across the region. There is a shift from populist governments to reformist ones in several countries.” He suggests that Mauricio Macri becoming president of Argentina in December 2015, and Peru’s Pedro Pablo Kuczynski taking office in July 2016, is starting to show significant political improvements and is responsible for the re-rating of asset prices.

“Valuations are now attractive and net margins of companies in Latin America are at the lowest levels in 20 years. Currencies are also cheaper, with effective exchange rates in Colombia, Mexico and Chile at the lowest levels in 20 years, while their economies are doing fine. Last but not least, we have seen a stabilisation of commodity prices,” he says.

Argentina hit the headlines in April with the largest emerging market debt sale ever recorded at $16.5m (£12.5m). Interest in this debt was so high that $70m (£53m) in orders were received. “The new government has taken quick and decisive action in boosting the economy and opening it up to foreign investors,” says Dean Newman, head of emerging market equities at Invesco Perpetual, who adds that increased optimism and confidence is evident.

On a less positive note, ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was charged in May with defrauding the state by manipulating the central bank to sell artificially low dollars prior to leaving office. This was reported to have cost the state $5.2bn (£3.9bn), with 14 other government officials also charged. However, Mr Newman believes the new government is starting to address the issues.

“With a reform-minded government looking to invest in industries that were neglected in recent years, I believe some of the most promising opportunities ahead could lie in sectors such as utilities and energy,” he says.

Undoubtedly, the biggest concerns regarding inflation lie in Venezuela. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inflation is expected to increase by 481 per cent this year and a even more worrying 1,642 per cent in 2017. In addition to this, Mr Malloy points towards issues with the Venezuelan currency. He says Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is “extremely weak and change could be inevitable.

Opportunity in uncertainty

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, highlights Colombia as a country perpetually improving and full of potential, which he says will continue as long as the government can resolve a number of important issues. “We believe conditions for investors will likely further improve. More importantly, if Colombia’s government is able to resolve its budget issues without resorting to burdensome taxation, and while moving privatisation forward to fund infrastructure developments, we think the future could be very bright for this beautiful nation.”

Therefore, despite the political and economic unrest across the region, the outlook for many Latin American countries remains promising.