Copernico, which started as a vehicle for Argentina’s recovery play, is now mostly invested out of the country and looking to the rest of Latin America for returns. Copernico is a low-risk hedge fund, investing mainly in fixed income: its Latin America fund has returned just over 14% a year since inception in 2003, with an annualized volatility of 3.75%.
Copernico founding partner Ricardo Maxit says the current stock-market correction is likely to continue, and he is even shunning local-currency bonds. “Big local-currency positions have been very hard to unwind,” he says. “It was very easy to come in, but now it’s becoming very difficult to get out.” Maxit is happy biding his time right now. “This is a very refreshing moment. It will create a lot of value opportunities. We know what we want to buy, there are some deep value stories, and we’re sitting back and waiting.”