IFR Special Reports

IFR IMF/World Bank 2011

The financial storm clouds are gathering. A credit downgrade for the US and the continuing uncertainty caused by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis have sent investors scrambling for cover. Emerging markets were remarkably robust following the credit crunch, but it is uncertain whether the decoupling can be sustained as developed markets now slow to a near halt.

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Stories in Special Report

Local currency funds sparkle

Inflows into EM local currency bond funds have far outpaced the amount moved into hard currency and blended funds and, with the US downgrade and eurozone difficulties the shift has accelerated.

Bridging the gap

Turkey’s capital markets have suffered as much as any other country’s during a brutal first half of 2011. But it did not have to be that way - many of Turkey’s market woes are self-inflicted.

London still calling

Russian companies should offer an attractive investment profile given stable GDP growth and the largely positive outlook for commodities and oil prices, therefore key to the economy’s performance, but in 2011 failures litter the ECM landscape.

Saving Europe

The IMF has had a roller coaster ride – from near-redundancy pre-crisis it was cast back into the limelight and its funding overhauled, following the market volatility of 2008. With the crisis seeing no end in sight does it need to be reformed again?

Bigger slice of the LatAm pie

Brazil’s share of equity capital markets activity in the Latin American region has slumped dramatically this year and this trend is likely to continue, as investors turn to markets with lower company valuations than Brazil, say experts.

A better bet

Russia is seen as a safe haven amid the turmoil

Private equity pioneer

The International Financing Corporation’s emerging market private equity business is a leading player in a fast growing corner of the financial markets. As well as generating strong returns, and creating private sector jobs, it is forging the development of the local capital markets.

Exploring Africa

For years investors have enthused about the potential of Africa. But while the proliferation of Africa funds demonstrates an appetite for exposure to the region, the development of its capital markets has been frustratingly slow, with the financial crisis only exacerbating the issue. Will it be worth the wait?

Secured solutions

Though lambasted for being the primary cause of the financial crisis, securitisation technology has proved its worth in providing a variety of institutions and state entities with funding using a range of cashflows to support their transactions.

Dollar demand deepens for IFC

With appetite for Washington DC-based supranational borrowers supported by the European debt crisis, the IFC secured a quarter of its US$10bn funding requirement for fiscal 2012 in just one month. Despite this early success, it expects to issue two dollar global benchmarks in the autumn and spring and to pick up arbitrage funding opportunities as they become available.

Malaysia woos sukuk trade

Islamic finance gained an additional sheen this year after the World Bank acknowledged the strategic importance of the new funding avenue. Malaysia, as the largest sukuk market in the world stands to benefit.

Special Report

Special Report

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