Alma Gramercy Emerging Markets Debt
Overview
Alma Gramercy Emerging Markets Debt is a long-only emerging markets debt fund.
The fund’s management is delegated to Gramercy Funds Management.
Share Class
NAV
Cumulative Performance (%)
Fund Inception 3 November 2022
| Daily | Monthly | Ytd | 1Yr | 3Yr | 5Yr | Incept. | Incept.Date |
|---|
The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Strategy & Manager
Fund Strategy
The Strategy seeks to outperform emerging market debt (EMD) markets by applying Gramercy’s symbiotic top-down / bottom-up approach to build a blended portfolio of hard currency sovereign debt, local currency sovereign debt and hard currency corporate debt.
The EM Debt investment team led by Portfolio Managers Philip Meier and Belinda Hill, each with over 15 years’ experience managing EM debt funds and a team of experienced dedicated analysts. The two Portfolio Managers also benefit from the support of a dedicated top-down view group led by Mohamed A. El-Erian, which builds investment themes and directional market views.
Investment Manager
Gramercy Funds Management is a $5.9 billion asset management firm dedicated to emerging markets, founded in 1998 by CIO Robert Koenigsberger and chaired by Mohamed A. El-Erian. The firm is headquartered in Greenwich, CT with offices in London, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
Key Persons
Philip Meier
Managing Director, Head of Emerging Markets Debt, Multi-Asset Portfolio Manager
Mr. Meier brings more than 17 years of investment experience to Gramercy. He is Head of EM Debt and Portfolio Manager of Gramercy’s Multi-Asset Strategies. Prior to joining Gramercy, Mr. Meier spent nearly five years at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) where he was a senior member of the Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio Management Team. In addition to LGIM, Mr. Meier’s emerging markets credit experience includes time with AXA Investment Managers as Senior Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Fixed Income, in London. He began his emerging markets credit investing career with Deutsche Asset Management in Frankfurt. Mr. Meier graduated from the European Business School in Germany and holds an MBA-equivalent (“Diplom-Kaufmann”) in Finance & Banking.
Belinda Hill
Managing Director, Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio Manager
Ms. Hill has 22 years of investment and research experience in emerging markets. She is a Co-Portfolio Manager for Gramercy’s long-only EMD strategies and a Senior Research Analyst for the firm’s alternative portfolios. Prior to joining Gramercy, Ms. Hill spent three years as an Emerging Markets Analyst at Apollo Global Management. At Apollo, she analyzed sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and corporate issuers across all sectors and was also responsible for sourcing and evaluating new strategic initiatives and private opportunities. Prior to Apollo, Ms. Hill worked at Schroders Investment Management for two years as an Emerging Markets Corporate Credit Analyst. Ms. Hill also worked at HPP, PepsiCo and Credit Suisse. Ms. Hill received her BA in Business Administration from Georgetown University where she graduated Cum Laude. Additionally, Ms. Hill is a CFA Charterholder.
Statistics & Commentary
Performance
The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Investment Manager's Commentary
as of 28/06/2024Market Review and Outlook
While risk sentiment remained broadly positive in June, investor conviction was tested by more mixed macroeconomic data that kept the U.S. Treasury market volatile and investors questioning the type of landing that the U.S. economy would experience. The month started with JOLTS data showing that job openings hit the lowest level since 2021, causing the 10-yr U.S. Treasury to rally by 22bps; however, this move reversed the following week as the resilience narrative was reinforced by data that showed a rebound in payroll employment, wage growth and income. Then, the week after that, the 10-yr U.S. Treasury rallied again by 25bps after a lower-than-expected CPI print in the U.S. was interpreted as an important move towards the Fed’s 2% inflation target. The Fed then surprised the market with much more hawkish rhetoric following its meeting where it left rates unchanged and said it saw only one rate cut in 2024. This caused the 10-yr U.S. Treasury to sell off by 17bps, ending the month at 4.39% (approximately 10bps lower than at the end of May). Outside of the U.S., the ECB completed its first rate cut, kicking off their rate cutting cycle, with Lagarde pointing to additional potential cuts while remaining cautious. In this context, the Fund (I USD ACC) returned 0.26% compared to the JPM EM Equal Weight TR Index return of 0.15%.
Under these relatively volatile top-down conditions, hard currency emerging markets debt was resilient in June, with positive returns in both sovereigns and corporates. Hard currency corporates, as represented by the CEMBI Broad Diversified Index, outperformed (+0.9% return) on the back of higher carry and relatively flat spreads while hard currency sovereigns, as represented by the EMBI Global Diversified index, had more muted returns (+0.6%) as spread widening in the high yield bucket partially offset the positive impact of carry. Local currency sovereigns, as represented by the GBI-Broad diversified index, experienced more volatility and negative total returns (-1.1%) in June in the context of broader global macroeconomic uncertainties and the lingering impact of surprising election results in South Africa, Mexico and India.
Fund
During the month of June, performance for the Fund largely benefited from our top-down allocation to hard currency corporates over sovereigns and our underweight allocation to local currency sovereigns. Our selection within hard currency corporates also contributed positively to the fund in June, particularly in Brazil, the UAE, India and Saudi Arabia. These factors were partially offset by our exposure in Mexico, particularly in local currency, which continued to be impacted, albeit marginally, by post-election concerns regarding future fiscal slippage at the government level.
Facts & Documents
Facts
Fund Domicile: Luxembourg
Fund Type: UCITS SICAV
Fund Launch: 3 November 2022
Base Currency: USD
Depositary, Administrator, Transfert Agent: BNP Paribas SA
Dealing: Each day with a 1-day notice
Cut-off time: 12 pm CET
Management Company: Alma Capital Investment Management
Investment Manager: Gramercy Funds Management LLC (US)
Countries where the fund is registered:
Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland
Sustainability-related disclosures:
The information related to the integration of sustainability risks and to the potential adverse sustainability impacts at the sub-fund level can be found in the prospectus of the Fund.
Identifiers:
Institutional USD Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU2485348770
Ticker: ALGIIUC LX
Launch: 3 Nov 2022
Institutional USD Distribution share class
ISIN: LU2485348853
Ticker: ALGMIUD LX
Launch: 6 Feb 2023
Institutional EUR hedged Distribution share class
ISIN: LU2485349232
Ticker: ALGIEHD LX
Launch: 6 Feb 2023
Institutional GBP hedged Distribution share class
ISIN: LU2485348937
Ticker: ALGIGHD LX
Launch: 6 Feb 2023