Fixed Income and Currency Strategist

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

Gautam Jain has over 25 years of experience covering global emerging fixed income and currency markets, both as a strategist and a portfolio manager. He has worked in buy-side and sell-side firms, including The Rohatyn Group (TRG Management), Barclays Capital, and Millennium Partners. He has helped manage emerging markets local-currency and hard-currency debt funds. The assets that he covers include currencies, interest rates, sovereign credits, and related derivatives. He specializes in portfolio construction, smart-beta index creation, and asset allocation. Mr. Jain holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Columbia University and is a CFA charter holder.

Alpha Bites: Long Thai Baht (THB) Vs Short Singapore Dollar (SGD)

Drivers Behind the Turnaround of Asian Currencies

Is Carry Driving the Returns of EM Currencies?

FX Dashboard: Will Asian Currencies Continue to Underperform?

Alpha Bites: Take Profits on Flattener Recommendations in Thailand and India

FX Dashboard: Is the Thai Baht Finally Turning?

Battle Lines Drawn As BABA Builds Out First/Last-Mile Capacity; But Who Will Fund 75+ Bn CNY CapEx?

FX & Rates

<p>Between July and October, Asian currencies underperformed against the rest of EM. In this note, I address the question: Is the period of underperformance for Asian currencies now behind? With the economic recovery back on track as coronavirus cases drop amid high levels of vaccinations, further monetary easing no longer in the cards, and FX interventions slowing, I expect Asian currencies on aggregate to trade broadly in line with the rest of EM in the near term but not outperform. From a strategy standpoint, I would opportunistically target specific currencies that have underperformed, such as the Thai baht.</p><p>Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which I seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.</p>

Between July and October, Asian currencies underperformed against the rest of EM. In this note, I address the question: Is the period of underperformance for Asian currencies now behind? With the economic recovery back on track as coronavirus cases drop amid high levels of vaccinations, further monetary easing no longer in the cards, and FX interventions slowing, I expect Asian currencies on aggregate to trade broadly in line with the rest of EM in the near term but not outperform. From a strategy standpoint, I would opportunistically target specific currencies that have underperformed, such as the Thai baht.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which I seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

Is the Period of Underperformance for Asian Currencies Over?