Commentary 30 June 2018
For the first half of 2018 the Aristea New Frontiers Equity Fund registered a performance of -5.2% in USD, compared to -13.7% for the benchmark. Our active strategy allowed the fund to strongly outperform the benchmark of +8.5% YTD, as can be seen form the below chart.
Part of it is due to the prompt reduction of exposure to Argentina and Vietnam, both experiencing short-term outflows. On the other hand we unchanged the positions in African equities and increased exposure to Saudi Arabia, where we expect strong inflows following the announced inclusion in the MSCI EM Index.
Even in this scenario characterised by uncertainty for global equity markets, Frontier Markets, supported by their solid macroeconomic fundamentals, represent an interesting investment opportunity and continue to offer a significant diversification component.
