(Bloomberg) Backing the ruble seemed like a lonely bet for Man Group Plc’s Guillermo Osses five months ago, but now the strategy is paying off — and the rest of the market is racing to catch up.
The head of emerging-market debt strategy at the company’s Man GLG unit has been bullish on the Russian currency and local debt markets since at least February, arguing that stabilizing oil prices would end the ruble’s slide and curb inflation in the world’s largest energy exporter. Both those things happened, and a shift in speculative bets followed: hedge funds have been bullish on the ruble since late January, the longest streak in a year.
