Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller bet big on Brazilian stocks just before they surged in January. His investment firm, Duquesne Family Office, bought around 3.5 million shares of the $9.1 billion iShares MSCI Brazil ETF in the last part of 2023. They also picked up call options on the same fund, showing they expected prices to rise.
The ETF jumped about 17 percent in January, its best month since 2020. A weaker dollar and rising commodity prices helped push the gains. Big companies like Vale, a mining giant, and Petroleo Brasileiro, an oil producer, saw their stocks jump by double digits.
Most of the 2024 rally happened in the popular, heavily traded stocks that foreign investors usually like. Optimism grew because people expect Brazil to start cutting interest rates next month.
This strong performance in Brazil is part of a bigger trend across emerging markets. Investors are moving money there because economies are improving, and they want to spread their risk after years of focusing on the U.S. market.
Druckenmiller is a legendary hedge fund manager who once worked with George Soros. He started Duquesne Capital in 1981 and grew it to manage over $12 billion before voluntarily closing it in 2010.