Page 106 - RusRPTOct20

Bond investors increasingly were concerned easing is over, which hurt markets. Optimism to EM bonds is cooling further with GEM bond funds reporting only $236mn inflows in the reported week.
Russia bond funds meanwhile report yet another week of minor inflows. However, negative flow momentum is building for EM bonds as well as equities and may lead to losses in the weeks ahead should the macro and pandemic picture deteriorate further and EM central banks end easing decisively.
Russian assets saw $30mn inflows from combined equity and bond fund flows for the week ending September 23 versus $90mn outflows in the previous week​, BCS Global Markets wrote on September 25 citing EPFR data.
As reported by ​bne IntelliNews,​ Russian equities have been under ​increasing pressure during the weeks following the poisoning of Alexey Navalny​ But for the reporting week, "minor inflows into Russia equity and bond funds provide hope that the market may find a bottom as soon as outflows end, albeit they are not yet enough to judge a reversal of sentiment," BCS GM wrote.
On the equity side Russia-dedicated funds saw $30mn inflow (versus $90mn outflows in the previous week) and combined funds posted $20mn inflow (versus $110mn outflows in the previous week), showing the best performance in 5 weeks.
For bonds, Russia-dedicated combined funds posted $20mn and $10mn inflows, showing inflows for 17 and 12 consecutive weeks respectively.
For the surprising equity inflow, actively managed funds were primarily responsible, Liontrust Russia Fund reporting $31mn inflows during the week, BCS GM commented, noting that "even marginal inflows of global money would be welcome for the stabilisation of the Russian stock market." "However, it is premature to judge if this positive will last at least a few weeks – the [coronavirus] COVID-19 pandemic is strengthening across the globe, including in Russia and other EMs," BCS GM reminds.
106 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com