Yousefian: EM conviction at highest ever
From Macro News Nov 25 2011 BY: Esther Armstrong
, Senior Reporter
, Portfolio Adviser
Emerging markets have not lost any of their long-term attraction despite their recent sell off, according to Tony Yousefian chief investment officer at OPM Fund Management, whose Worldwide Opportunities Fund has its highest ever exposure to the sector.
Yousefian said in the past month he had upped his holdings in China and Brazil which had taken his fund to 28.5% invested in emerging markets.
The country-by-country breakdown put China in the lead with 12%, followed by Russia at 6%, Brazil at 5%, South Korea at 2.5% and India at 2.3%.
He acknowledged that in the current risk-off environment emerging market stocks had taken a battering, but said this was something he was willing to put up with for long-term gain.
"It is one of our long-term strategic positions. In the short term we have taken the view that if we try to call the market it is foolhardy. So we have to look beyond this and take a view on if the whole capitalist system is going to collapse.
"If it is, it really does not matter if you are half or fully invested, and if you subscribe to the premise that it is not going to collapse and are looking for growth anywhere in the globe, you should look at emerging markets."
Despite the fact the eurozone crisis has been rumbling since early last year, day-to-day volatility in the markets is something that only really started at the end of July.
While the yo-yo movements continue Yousefian said there was no point in trying to call the market as "anything you do makes you look good for about two hours".
He has increased his holdings in Francis Brooke's Troy Trojan Income Fund, which he believes to be invested in resilient stocks, and has gone from holding no European-focused funds to investing in Mark Page's Artemis European Opportunities Fund.
Page joined Artemis in early September from LVAM, where he was head of European equities, and Yousefian rates the way he will "actively look to limit his down side by taking a view on the market and if necessary putting small shorts on".
On the passive side Yousefian has built up his holdings in two iShares emerging market products, the FTSE China 25 ETF and MSCI Brazil ETF and has increased his exposure to gold through the ETFS Physical Gold ETC.