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perience there has proved useful in his current seat .
“ What they [ Ninety One ] liked is that someone from the so-called ' dark side ' was coming to join them to hopefully protect them from the advantages that the banks do try to take on the naïve in these frontier markets ,” he says .
He now trades emerging markets bonds , credit default swaps ( CDS ), interest rate swaps ( IRS ) and foreign exchange .
When asked what key trends the emerging and frontier markets have seen as of late , Willis explains that there have been several substantial but necessary devaluations in national currencies to encourage foreign interest in markets such as Nigeria and Egypt .
“ You ' ve seen it a few times in the history of their respective financial markets , the need for fairly substantial devaluations ,” he explains . “ We ' re talking circa 50 % in both their currencies this year . The cheapening in the local currency and the local assets , attracts offshore investment which is crucial for the long-term development of these countries .”
Subtleties and nuances The nature of the frontier and emerging markets lend themselves to more off-the-beatentrack workflows . Given the liquidity landscape can often be more sparse or difficult to navigate , the use of local brokers alongside the bulge brackets is something Willis thinks is essential to minimise market footprint . Due to lower demand , bulge brackets will sometimes not cater for the particulars of what frontier traders are looking to execute .
“ Say a large real money account wants to buy South African Government Bonds at the same time
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