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 $6.1 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 15 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 20 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 28/03/2024Market Review and Outlook
March was another month where U.S. inflation data and Fed policy were a key focus. With a higher-than-expected U.S. CPI print mid-month, investor concerns grew that inflation would stabilize at a level higher than the 2% target set by the Fed, thereby reducing the likelihood of the Fed cutting interest rates in 2024. Later in the month, however, the Fed left its target rate unchanged for the fifth consecutive meeting and Powell reassured markets that rate cuts are still possible in 2024. In fact, the median FOMC participant continued to project three rate cuts in 2024 despite a 0.2pp increase in the median 2024 core PCE inflation projection to 2.6%. This has led to debates amongst leading economists as to whether the Fed’s 2% inflation target is the right “spot” target or just the lower end of a longer-term target range. These developments kept the 10-yr U.S. Treasury rangebound during the month of March while risk assets continued to perform well as the S&P broke through the 5,200 level to reach new highs.
In terms of return streams, EM hard currency sovereigns had the best performance again, returning 2.1% in March on the back of the sovereign high yield segment which returned +3.0% as idiosyncratic names continued to deliver outsized returns. Given stable rates during the month, the performance of the sovereign IG segment was positive this month at +1.2%. EM hard currency corporates continued to be resilient as well, returning +1.0% in March with the high yield and investment grade components of corporates up +1.2% and 0.9%, respectively. EM local currency sovereign was the weakest performer again in March as it was flat on the month.
Fund
The Fund (I USD ACC) returned +1.33% in March compared to the JPM Equal Weight Index return of +1.02%.
Performance for the Fund during the month of March was driven by (1) our overweight allocation to Mexico local currency sovereign bonds, (2) our selection of idiosyncratic distressed sovereign credits, such as Pakistan, and (3) our overweight allocation to EM high yield corporate credit. Despite flat returns for the overall EM local currency sovereign sub-asset class, Mexican local assets outperformed in March on continued peso strength amid elevated nominal and real rates. Banxico cut its policy rate by 25bps to 11.0% after being on hold for the past year, helping to sustain the resiliency of the peso through the end of the month. The main detractor to performance this month was our overall underweight positioning in EM high yield sovereign credit and our tactical positioning in Chinese real estate which continues to face headwinds in the near-term amidst insignificant policy action by Chinese authorities.
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