Down more than 22% year-to-date, the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) is bleeding assets. EWZ, the largest exchange traded fund tracking stocks in Latin America’s largest economy, is also one of this year’s worst-performing single-country emerging markets ETFs.
After rallying in July, EWZ has given back all of those gains and then some, slumping more than 15% in August, prompting investors to head for the exits.
“The $6 billion iShares MSCI Brazil ETF, or EWZ, has had about $710 million of outflows in August, the most in its history. The BlackRock Inc. fund, which started in July 2000, hasn’t seen a day of inflows since June 18,” reports Bloomberg.
Political volatility and slumping commodities are among the factors weighting on Brazilian finanicial markets.
Political Woes for Brazil
Brazil holds national elections in October. Last month, stocks there rallied after several parties began to support center-right presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin in the upcoming election.
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