Also weighing on performance in the quarter was Erste GroupBank (WBO:EBS), an Austria-domiciled bank with a majority of assets in emerging Europe. European financial companies—Erste was no exception—were negatively impacted by the Brexit news due to increased fears of a euro break-up, prolonged macroeconomic uncertainty and more downward pressure on interest rates. Compared to other developing markets, emerging Central and Eastern European countries tend to have higher exposure to exports to the United Kingdom and the euro zone, as well as currencies that are more correlated to the euro. However, we believe Erste will be relatively resilient due to its strong capital adequacy and improving asset quality.
From Brandes' Emerging Markets Fund second quarter 2016 commentary.
