BlackRock's Vecht: Will Eastern Europe turn a corner this year?

A turning point in the performance of Eastern European equities may finally be on the cards this year, according to Sam Vecht, co-manager of the BlackRock Emerging Europe trust.

With the exception of the rally seen in late 2010, emerging European equity markets have struggled since the financial crisis. The region saw another disappointing year in 2013, but Vecht (pictured) argued equities are now attractive from a valuation perspective. "It is not about investment stories and themes, it is all about the valuations, and there is real value to be found in emerging Europe at the moment," he said. From a basket of Eastern European countries listed in the MSCI indices, the only country that made a positive return last year was Greece. Russia, Turkey and Hungar...