A devastating month for the Emerging Markets. Eastern Europe (-11,2%), China (-9,1%) and Pakistan (-7,99%) were leading the pack. The other countries performed a little less negatively. Turkey (-2,47%), India (-1,88%) and Russia (-1,3%) were the best performing markets in our portfolio.
We are confident with our positioning. Firstly our 20% allocation to cash preserved the portfolio for more heavy losses. Russia, the largest allocation in our portfolio, apart from the cash position, was also able to stay more or less stable. For Russia we see a huge potential. This, due to the rising oil price in combination with a higher production level, according to the latest OPEC decision, will stimulate the economy. The strengthening of the US Dollar is an extra bonus for Russia. Their expenses for mining commodities are in Rouble, which is weak, but their income is in US Dollars. This will boost the profits during the next months. An agreement between Putin and Trump which will lower the tensions between Russia and the West will be a big bonus for Russia investors. For the time being the portfolio is heavily damaged by the Trade war of Trump in combination with the US Dollar. The strong US Dollar does have a huge negative impact on all Emerging Markets besides Russia. We expect that most Emerging Markets will find their bottom soon. At this moment we are intending to increase the positions aggressively.