He came into 2016 with a negative view of Brazil, but the increasing possibility of impeachment has changed his mind. He boosted his weightings of Brazilian stocks in the first quarter by about 5 percentage points and is now slightly over-weighted. His biggest Brazilian holdings as of Feb. 29, were Ambev SA, the beer giant, and Banco Bradesco SA.

A change in Brazil’s leadership “is the only way we will get better policies that will help inflation come down and get us back to a period where the middle class expands again,” Landers said.

Tide ‘Out’

Rousseff, whose administration is under attack for allegedly taking out loans from state banks to cover up a budget deficit, calls the charges against her baseless and attempts to remove her a “coup against democracy.” In a speech on Tuesday, she accused her vice president of attempting to illegally overthrow the government, underscoring the depths of the bitterness that are convulsing the country days before an impeachment vote.

A committee in Brazil’s lower house voted in favor of impeachment early this week by a wider margin than originally forecast, setting the stage for a showdown when the full house convenes. The full lower house of Congress is expected to start voting as early as Friday whether to approve impeachment and send the motion to the Senate for consideration. If the Senate accepts the charges against Rousseff, she would have to stepdown until a final ruling is made.

Economists expect conditions in Brazil to remain difficult this year. Consumer prices will rise 8.5 percent while output shrinks 3.6 percent, the average forecasts of more than 30 respondents in a Bloomberg survey.

Fidelity’s Pruett remains cautious on Brazil. Pruett, whose 39 percent of assets in Brazilian equities as of Feb. 29 represented an under-weight position, said the country’s stocks are expensive and its problems deep-seated.

“The tide has gone out on Brazil,” said Pruett, who has run the fund since October. 

Predicting Politics

He is skeptical that the rally in commodity prices will continue or that the economy will significantly improve soon. Even if a new government emerges, he said, it could be years before more market-friendly policies on taxes, labor markets and pensions produces stronger growth.