Latin America and European bond funds made the most of a tariff-induced storm for global markets in April.
IA Latin America was the top-performing fund sector in the month, returning 3.3%.
Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, said LatAm’s strong month was a surprise, given that commodities other than gold suffered a poor month for returns.
“No-one expected the advent of Trump 2.0 to be dull, but few could have predicted the chaos that has been inflicted on investors during his first 100 days in office,” Yearsley said.
“This came to a head at the beginning of April when the tariff announcements on Trump’s ‘liberation day’ provided an unprecedented level of self-inflicted market turbulence.
“The tariff increases announced were significantly higher than markets had anticipated, with imposition of a standard 10% tariff and a wide range of more stringent measures announced.
“The first week of April saw an indiscriminate sell off and heavy falls across global investment markets, with few places to hide. To put this turbulence into context, the Vix index of US stockmarket volatility reached levels only previously witnessed at the peak of the global financial crisis and the outbreak of Covid.”
European fixed income capitalised on the turbulence in the Treasury markets, with the Bund’s strength in April leading to three of the top five sectors in the month being European fixed income sectors. European small caps also enjoyed a strong month despite US tariff uncertainty.
| Funds – One month (top ten) | Return % |
| Morgan Stanley INVF US Growth | +9.35 |
| VT Lyndon | +9.29 |
| Abrdn European Real Estate | +7.69 |
| CT UK Monthly Income | +6.56 |
| Downing European Unconstrained Income | +6.46 |
| AQR Alternative Trends | +6.33 |
| Janus Henderson Pan European Property Equities | +6.23 |
| Gam Star Global Rates | +6.02 |
| Abrdn UK Real Estate Share | +5.78 |
| CT European Real Estate Securities | +5.62 |
Source: FE fundinfo. Performance figures 31 March to 30 April 2025
Less surprisingly, China was the worst performing sector as trade tensions with the US escalated, with both sides imposing tariffs of over 100% on the other. The average fund in the sector fell 7.5% in the month, according to FE fundinfo data. Commodities fell 5.8%, while North American Smaller Companies also suffered a 5% decline.
IA North America was also among the bottom five sectors, falling 4%. Despite this, the Morgan Stanley INVF US Growth fund was the top-performing individual fund, returning 9.4% over the month.
Elsewhere, European property funds enjoyed a strong month with Abrdn European Real Estate, Janus Henderson Pan European Property Equities, Abrdn UK Real Estate Share and CT European Real Estate Securities all among the top 10 performers.
Energy suffered with the four worst funds all focused on energy. Guinness Global Energy, Goldman Sachs North America Energy & Energy Infrastructure, and Blackrock BGF World Energy all dropped 13.5% in April.
This article first appeared in our sister publication, Portfolio Adviser.
