Gold Magazine January - February 2014, Issue 34

COVER STORY LOUCAS MARANGOS CEO, TFI Markets 2013 have seen major players such as Facebook and Twitter listed and others (such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) are expected to follow suit. As international Internet penetration continues to expand, social media equities can remain in the spotlight for extended timeframes. We expect that, in general, Emerging Markets equities will continue to underperform developed ones, at least for the first half of the year as the combination of weaker-than-expected growth/earnings and, more recently, worries over the consequences of monetary policy tapering in the US will weigh. The potential impact on individual markets will vary. For example, countries with large current account deficits and a reliance on external funding, such as India, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey, have already experienced sharp equities and currency sell-offs. On the other hand, countries running healthier macroeconomics and current account surpluses, such as China, Korea, and Russia, were less affected and are expected to be more resistant to the effects of withdrawal of monetary stimulus in the developed economies but they are still vulnerable to contagion from problems in other Emerging Markets. In some cases substantial currency weakness is already helping some of the more fragile countries reduce their current account deficits and improve their competitive position. Investors in EM equities should act with extra caution in the next few months and only take strategic and selective positions. The end of 2013 found equity markets hovering at all

Gold Magazine January - February 2014, Issue 34 | Página 22