Brazilian asset manager WHG, founded by former Credit Suisse executives, is adding to its newly formed local equities desk. The firm, which also runs a wealth-management business and oversees 60 billion reais ($11.8 billion) in total, hired Lucas Rossi, formerly of SPX Capital, as an equity trader. It also added Matheus Videira, formerly of BTG Pactual, and Phelipe Francesco, previously of Vista Capital, as analysts. Daniel Debessa, whose experience includes financial services firm Monte Bravo and XP Inc., will become chief operating officer.
WHG announced in August that it had hired former Brasil Capital fund managers Danilo Deutsch and Fernando Sampaio to lead its new local equities strategy. The firm launched the Polaris fund in September, just ahead of a rally in Brazilian equities before this month's presidential elections. The Ibovespa index is up about 10% in October, after right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro led incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round of voting.
Assets broadly rallied after the Oct. 4 vote, with the Ibovespa setting an all-time high. Bolsonaro is seen as favored to win the Oct. 25 runoff. Under him, markets expect Brazil will have a better chance of tackling its ballooning deficit, even though he has yet to offer a detailed plan.
"We already had a bullish view ahead of the election because we were seeing a lot of opportunities in the market," Deutsch said in an interview. "Then came the surprise election result, and we added a bit more risk, even after the rally, with the view that this could be the beginning of a better cycle."
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing