Aberdeen's Diment ups exposure to EM local currencies

Aberdeen's head of emerging market debt expects emerging market currencies to be the key drivers of superior returns from the asset class in 2013.

Brett Diment (pictured), managing the £43m Aberdeen Emerging Market Bond fund, has been adding currency risk to the fund over the past three to six months. The fund, which has made 18.3% in 2012 against a sector peer group average of 6.9%, already has 20% exposure to local currencies, while the rest is hedged back into sterling. Diment said he may increase exposure to as much as 25% this year. "Currencies are typically the most volatility part of the asset class, but general improvement in world growth means there will be more tolerance for currency appreciation," he said. In 20...