‘Fragile Five’ better positioned for shocks today – Goldman Sachs

Bloomberg cites key points from the latest note published by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, highlighting that they are overweight on the so-called Fragile-Five economies - Turkey, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, and Qatar.

Key Points via Bloomberg:

“The new grouping, actually a revamp of a list created four years ago by Morgan Stanley, is composed of Turkey, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, and Qatar. Although the nations face a variety of political risks -- from tensions in the Persian Gulf to Ankara’s deteriorating relations with Europe -- current-account and fiscal deficits, excluding Pakistan, haven’t deteriorated to the same level as past members. That’s created select buying opportunities.

Goldman Sachs is overweight Argentine and Turkish hard-currency debt as well as Egyptian local notes.”

Angus Bell, who helps oversee about $45 billion for Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s emerging-market debt team, noted: “The extent to which countries can respond to a shock today is arguably better than any other time in the past few years.”