Chatfeild-Roberts ups LatAm exposure across Merlin range

Jupiter's chief investment officer John Chatfeild-Roberts has upped his weighting to Latin America across his £6bn Merlin multi-manager portfolios after taking profits in the region last month.

In February the manager sold down holdings in Findlay Park Latin American and reallocated capital to developed market funds as part of a more cautious stance across the Merlin range. This was driven by fears about macro headwinds such as unrest in the Middle East, reduced liquidity and increased market volatility.

However, in March the team began adding to Latin America again with an average 3%-4% increase in the Findlay Park fund across all the Merlin portfolios, with the exception of the Income fund.

Peter Lawery, a manager on the Merlin portfolios, said the team is poised to increase this weighting when the macroeconomic backdrop stabilises.

"We reduced exposure to Latin America earlier in the year. We believe in the long-term development of Latin America, particularly in the case of countries like Brazil.

"However, we do not feel now is the right time to be putting too much risk on the table as the global macro situation is so fluid and unpredictable and is likely to overwhelm all the domestic positives should volatility aggressively re-appear.

"In the long run we would like to increase our exposure to the domestic Latin American theme."

Chatfeild-Roberts added: "Latin America has been a particularly rewarding market and it strikes us that, despite the short-term volatility of the region, it will continue to offer much the UK economy simply does not.

"Should equity markets have any reason to retrench over the coming months, it is likely we will be increasing our exposure to Latin America."