BKF News and Press, iShares MSCI BRIC Index Fund From 01/07/20

As global manufacturing sector activity barely stayed above the recession line in 4Q 2019, BRICs manufacturing PMIs indicated a cautious upswing in activity, with the exception for Russia and India. Here are the core details: Brazil's 4Q 2019 Manufacturing PMIs averaged 51.8, statistically...

Hindsight is 20-20, as we all know. Look around and forward vision for 2020 is cloudy at best, be it for geopolitics, economies, businesses or markets. Markets might look great having bounced back (through April from the sharp declines end of 2018 and then since October), due to corporate buyb...

Much has been written about the risks China poses to the global economy. This is hardly surprising considering that China has the world's second largest economy. What is surprising, however, is that relatively little attention has been paid to the apparent running out of steam of the Brazili...

Two decades ago, the BRIC economies were projected to surpass the advanced G6 economies by the early 2030s. Today, the huge potential of the BRICs prevails, but the pace has slowed and country trajectories have diverged. China and India are on track, Brazil and Russia are not, thanks to geopol...

As growth bottoms out and tail risks ease, attractive valuations support the case for emerging markets currencies. This edition of CIO Weekly Perspectives comes from guest contributors Rob Drijkoningen and Vera Kartseva of Neuberger Berman’s Emerging Markets Debt team. In mi...

BRIC Conclusion: Things are a bit dicey. Manufacturing is taking a hit from the global trade war, although the service sectors are still expanding. On the plus side, inflation is contained, which gives their central banks room to maneuver. Unemployment is low, which should support modest inc...

Over the past 30+ years since the introduction of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, investors have evolved from holding minimal positions in emerging markets funds to holding more substantial allocations. Additionally, the choice of investment options has evolved from broad-based emerging mar...

China and Russia dominate BRICS' current account dynamics and this is not about to change. Both China and Russia have been posting strong current account figures in recent years, and this is not changing with the onset of the Russia sanctions in 2014 and the Trump Trade Wars in 2018. The two...

BRIC PMIs for June are out and with them we have 2Q 2019 figures, and the story they tell is two-fold: Fold 1: There is an ongoing Global-scale slowdown in the economy that is broad, sharp and testing the waters of a mild recession approaching. Fold 2: The BRICs are barely providing any ...

Here's some of the standout charts on my radar. I aim to pick a good mix of charts covering key global macro trends, and ones which highlight risks and opportunities across asset classes. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 1. OECD Leading Indicators -- EM vs DM: With EM equities under pr...