During the quarter, we also took advantage of the decline in Brazilian equities to selectively add to a number of our positions there, including in government-owned water utility Companhia de Saneamento Basico de Estado de São Paulo (Sabesp) (SBS, Financial).
Sabesp provides public water and sewage services to a broad range of customers in São Paulo, Brazil’s richest and most populous state. São Paulo has recently been grappling with the worst drought in 80 years. Water levels in the Cantareira system of reservoirs, which normally supplies roughly half of the 20 million residents, have fallen to just 5% of capacity. In our view, the necessary cutbacks on water deliveries will result in Sabesp earning below its regulated rate of return. This will likely continue until the drought is over or the company is able to supplement the state’s water supply. While the investment committee cannot predict the weather, we feel that Sabesp remains an attractive investment opportunity that merits a continued inclusion in the Fund.
Year-to-Date 2015 Briefing
Year to date through September 30, 2015, the Brandes Emerging Markets Value Fund underperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which declined 15.2%.
Holdings in Brazil, namely Petrobras, Sabesp and Banco do Brasil, were the main detractors for the nine-month period. As was the case for the quarter, Copa Holdings, POSCO, and XL Axiata negatively impacted returns for the year. Moreover, while our underweight to Chinese companies aided returns in the quarter, it weighed on performance relative to the benchmark for the year to date.
From Brandes Emerging Markets Value Fund 3rd quarter commentary.
