Die Aktienmärkte der Frontier-Länder konnten sich im Mai im Zuge der verbesserten Marktstimmung erholen, nachdem in zahlreichen Staaten ausgiebige monetäre und fiskalische Stimuluspakete auf den Weg gebracht wurden. Besonders gut entwickelten sich vietnamesische Titel, da das südostasiatische Land weitere Schritte zur ökonomischen Öffnung einleitete. In diesem Marktumfeld verzeichnete der T. Rowe Price Frontier Markets Equity Fund (WKN A1166Y, ISIN LU1079764939) neue Kursgewinne und legte um +5,70 Prozent auf USD-Basis zu. Über die Änderungen im Portfolio und neue Investments auf Einzeltitelebene informiert FondsManager Oliver Bell in seinem Monatsbericht für Mai. Dort liefert der Frontier-Markets-Experte die neuesten Details über den in der Strategie SJB Stars enthaltenen Aktienfonds.
Global equities continued to rebound in May, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic still dominating markets. The focus turned increasingly to how countries would begin to ease lockdown measures, and the economic effects of this. The continuation of monetary and fiscal stimulus, as policymakers announced additional support measures, provided further support. Against this backdrop, frontier equities outperformed their developed and emerging market peers. Within the portfolio, not holding several strongly performing Vietnamese stocks—Vinhomes, Vietnam Dairy Products, and Hoa Phat—hurt. These stocks benefitted as the country took tentative steps to reopen its economy. Our position in Rwandan Bank of Kigali also dragged. The bank’s business has been adversely affected by the coronavirus, and it expects to take heavy impairments for anticipated losses on its credit facilities. On the other hand, our avoidance of index-heavyweight Mobile Telecommunications (Zain), a leading Kuwaiti mobile operator, boosted performance, with shares subject to profit taking after recent strong performance. Elsewhere, Helios Towers, a UK-listed telecommunications tower company, which operates in Africa, rallied sharply on expectations that the stock would be included in the FTSE Global Small Cap Index—they gave back some of these gains as the index provider decided against inclusion, however.
In financials, we established a position in a leading Moroccan bank. Its business operations include retail banking, insurance, consumer finance, and corporate and investment banking. In recent years, the bank has accelerated its growth in Africa, a relatively low-penetration market geared to long-term growth, through acquisitions. It also focuses on the small-to-medium enterprise and Islamic banking segments in Morocco. In real estate, we took some profits in a Vietnamese retail developer, which has benefitted from the reopening of its malls as coronavirus concerns subside in the country.
