Research & Insight

The chart above shows one year Credit Default Swap (CDS) prices for both Brazil and the US. This is essentially the insurance premium the market asks against a default on the sovereign debt of a nation – the lower the number, the cheaper the premium and hence, the lower the implicit probability that a sovereign nation will default on its debt.

All regions and most countries fell modestly over the month. In the absence of any major directional lead from developed markets attention concentrated upon the fall in oil and other commodity prices, the rally in the dollar and the prospects for global growth going forward.

MSCI Asia ex Japan fell 1.34% in May. All Asian countries fell modestly over the month except China, Hong Kong and Indonesia and all 3 of those rose less than 1% in USD terms.

This article looks at the growth of advisory type wrap accounts and the influence they have had (and are forecast to have) on the Korean equity market. The sale of advisory wrap accounts was approved in Korea in 2001, but it was just last year that the products were highlighted in the market, when ‘star fund managers’ set up their own advisory firms and started to influence the performance of stocks. Wrap accounts have been overweight certain sectors, namely auto and chemical/energy and as these sectors have generated strong returns (assisted by the liquidity generated by the wrap accounts but also from significant earnings growth) this has resulted in increased attention to the wrap account market.

We often hear about climate change, the impacts on the environment and the potential effect on future generations. But how does climate change impact emerging markets?