Almost two years ago, when the Fed did no more than suggest it might raise rates at some point in the not-too-distant future, emerging markets assets were roiled so badly that the incident has acquired its own alliterative name: the taper tantrum. It r…
Even by the peripatetic standards of South African politics, David van Rooyen’s time as finance minister was brief. He got the job on Thursday, after President Jacob Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene; by yesterday, he was gone, replaced by Pravin Gordhan, who …
Venezuelans have for many years suffered a level of extraordinary misery for such an oil-rich country. Yesterday marked the clearest sense in a generation that change might be around the corner.
What to make of Friday’s decision by the OPEC meeting not to cut oil production? Oil prices are edging lower again today, near to their 2015 lows, and if anything total world supply could increase.
Emerging market shares have been volatile and underperforming for years, but how about EM debt? The situation in recent years has been equally perilous, but there may be opportunity ahead. In the fourth in a series of interviews on emerging markets, to…
Today’s announcement that the International Monetary Fund is to add the Chinese renminbi to its list of reserve currencies is a lot more significant than that slightly arcane description might suggest.
As fund managers and bank analysts turn to their year-end reviews, there is a growing sense that it is time to look afresh at emerging markets. But there’s an equally clear sense that just lumping cash into a broad-based or passive exposure to the whol…
In the second of a series of interviews and reports on the outlook for emerging markets, today a senior figure at Fidelity Investments explains her view on China. See part one, The Death Of Brics, here.
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs closed its BRIC fund nine years after its then chief economist Jim O’Neill coined the BRIC acronym. The Goldman fund had been performing badly for years, and has been rolled into a broader emerging markets produc…
It’s official. Mauricio Macri made harder work of it than polls had expected, but he achieved just over 51% of the votes in last night’s run-off compared to just under 49% for Kirchner candidate Daniel Scioli. He is the new elected president of Argenti…
It is a moment she has spent most of her life waiting for: Myanmar restored to a democratic nation, led by the people rather than the military. Aung San Suu Kyi’s extraordinary journey – from her return to Burma in 1988 to lead the pro-democracy moveme…
It has taken two days to be sure of the outcome, but 10 minutes ago Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party announced an unofficial victory in the country’s election, claiming 82% of the seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament. Fo…
This morning, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that China’s controversial one-child policy is to come to an end.
Today Volkswagen reported a Eu3.48 billion quarterly operating loss for the three months to September 30, as it tries to digest the costs involved in repairing its fraudulent diesel cars. This is the first result to be announced since VW’s practice of …
This morning it appears certain that Argentina’s presidential elections will go to a run-off vote next month after the two main candidates, government-backed Daniel Scioli and opposition candidate Mauricio Macri, appeared likely to come out of the firs…
I received a letter from Volkswagen director Alex Smith this morning.
By the end of this year, over one billion people – almost one in five of the global adult population – will have used their mobile phone for banking purposes. By 2020, it will be two billion, by which time it will represent 37% of all adults worldwide.
I was in Iran last month for my second visit to the country over the last year, prompted by the likelihood of a new nuclear deal being completed and the lifting of some sanctions. I was there for Euromoney, and you can read my account, with numero…
Today India surprised the markets by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points – the fourth cut of the year, bringing the benchmark repo rate down to 6.75%.
This morning, the Financial Times splashed with an article saying that the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, had suffered a $12 billion paper loss in the third quarter of 2015. It’s a big claim. But is it right?
Diversified Asset Allocation Portfolios For Your Plans
| Vanguard ETF: | 10%* |  |
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| Six Core Asset ETFs: | 10%* | |
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