Ashmore Upbeat on Argentina

Major EM investor Ashmore is upbeat on the prospects for Argentina following the weekend victory of Cristina Kirchner. “We’re very hopeful for the new administration,” Ashmore’s head of research Jerome Booth tells LatinFinance. “The focus has to be on some fiscal reform in the near term,” he adds. “The risk is inflation.” Overall, Ashmore, which looks at EM on a country rather than regional basis, is upbeat about LatAm. “The region looks pretty healthy,” says Booth. London-based Ashmore is a specialist value-oriented EM investor with $33.1bn in assets under management. Since launch in March 2003, AMSF, its multi-strategy fund, has achieved a net annualized return in excess of 18%.