Valerie Ho, CFA, a Portfolio Manager on DoubleLine’s Global Sovereign Debt team, and Nicholas Engler, an Analyst on the team, discuss the ramifications for Latin American issuers of sovereign debt amid a sea change in American foreign policy signaled by the U.S. capture and indictment of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. “Operation Absolute Resolve, as the Maduro operation was code-named, serves as a defining illustration of a renewed willingness of President Donald Trump to deploy economic and military coercion to achieve `America First’ objectives” in the Western Hemisphere, Ms. Ho and Mr. Engler write. That strategic shift, with its attendant possible use of hard military and economic power, the authors note, comes amid a heavy 2025-2026 election cycle in Latin America that “could realign governing ideologies and, thus, bilateral risks and opportunities” in the region.
Ms. Ho joined DoubleLine in 2009 as an Emerging Markets Sovereign Analyst. She is now a Portfolio Manager for the DoubleLine Global Bond strategy covering Latin America and Emerging Asia excluding China. Prior to DoubleLine, Ms. Ho was an Assistant Vice President at TCW, where her responsibilities included analyzing Multi-Asset Fixed Income and CDO investments. Previous to TCW, she worked as a Paraplanner for Ameriprise Financial. Ms. Ho holds a BS in Mathematics/Economics and a Specialization in Computer Programming from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a CFA® charterholder.
Mr. Engler joined DoubleLine in 2020 as an Analyst, Sovereign Credit on the International Fixed Income team. Prior to DoubleLine, he worked at J.P. Morgan in London, where his responsibilities included country risk management for the Middle East and North Africa. Previous to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Engler worked as a Research Assistant at S&P Global Ratings in New York. He holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California and MIA in International Finance and Economic Policy from Columbia University.
