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Meet Carlos

Carlos de Sousa

Strategist and Portfolio Manager

5 years with Vontobel

Zurich

Vontobel Asset Management AG

Genferstrasse 27

CH-8022 Zurich

Switzerland

Carlos de Sousa joined Vontobel in January 2021. He is Portfolio Manager/Strategist within the Emerging Markets team of the Vontobel Fixed Income Boutique.

Before joining Vontobel, he was Lead Emerging Markets Economist at Oxford Economics, a leading organization in global forecasting and quantitative analysis. Prior to that, he was a research fellow at Bruegel in Brussels, a think tank specializing in economics, where he authored policy-oriented research with a focus on European economics. Earlier in his career, he worked as an economist at Ecoanalitica in Caracas, where he was responsible for macroeconomic forecasts of Venezuela and several Caribbean and Central American countries.

Carlos holds a Master’s degree in Macroeconomic Policy and Financial Markets from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Economics, from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Related perspectives

Fixed Income Boutique

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Apr 01 2026 Fixed Income Quarterly

EM Bonds: resilience amid oil shock and geopolitical uncertainty

We believe EM fixed income is better positioned today than four years ago, despite uncertainty around the duration of the war and the disruption of oil supply. If de-escalation materializes in the short term, EM bonds may rebound amid a resumption of pre-war trends, including diversification away from US-centric portfolios.

Fixed Income Boutique

Dec 12 2025 Fixed Income Quarterly

Optimistic outlook for EM bonds

Looking ahead, we expect continued inflows, rising demand, and reduced supply to support EM hard-currency bonds. For EM local-currency bonds, we believe the current macroeconomic environment remains favorable, despite our conviction in a USD bear market being lower than it was a few months ago.

Fixed Income Boutique

Sep 08 2025 Fixed Income Quarterly

Rating upgrades and renewed inflows support EM hard-currency bonds

Accelerating rating upgrades and renewed inflows into the asset class are likely to support EM spreads relative to their historical levels and other credit markets. Absent a major global shock, we expect EM bonds to remain resilient, offering stable carry even if capital appreciation becomes more difficult to capture.

Fixed Income Boutique

Sep 08 2025 Fixed Income Quarterly

EM local-currency: more reasons to maintain our high conviction

Strong performance of EM local currency bonds has been driven by a bearish US dollar and fundamental factors supporting sustainable appreciation toward a stronger equilibrium.

Asset management

Jun 06 2025 Viewpoint

King Dollar’s crown is tilting and why emerging markets may benefit

The US dollar’s reign is faltering, and we believe a prolonged dollar bear market is underway – a scenario that has historically been a tailwind for emerging market economic growth and asset valuations. However, not all emerging equity markets respond equally to the dollar’s decline.

Fixed Income Boutique

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Mar 12 2025 Fixed Income Quarterly

Fixed Income Quarterly: “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”

We remain cautiously optimistic about Fixed Income returns. Tail risks are elevated, which dampens our confidence in “risk on” markets. But alpha opportunities still await risk-aware, active investors. Those who try to predict the next major macro shift may find themselves echoing Luke Skywalker’s words, “your overconfidence is your weakness.”