A research-driven and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) focused emerging markets (EM) opportunities solution with an emphasis on downside protection*. We seek to generate attractive return over cash through the cycle by identifying the best risk-adjusted opportunities from the full spectrum of emerging markets debt (EMD).
* Capital still at risk.
SFDR Product Information*
Read more about SFDR including information on our Article 8 and 9 funds
*Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
Our investment philosophy is based on the principle that EMD is a heterogeneous, semi-efficient market with multiple sources of mispricing. We believe in casting the widest possible net to identify and seek to profitably exploit opportunities, looking for them at every level of analysis – asset class, country, industry, issuer and security.
Risk-adjusted portfolio management style
- The strategy aims to select the most attractive risk-adjusted opportunities from the full spectrum of EMD, modulating the portfolio exposure according to the macroeconomic environment.
ESG Innovation
- A strong focus on ESG by utilizing a dedicated proprietary income-adjusted ESG approach to EMD sovereigns, while employing a rigorous ESG rating system to EMD corporates.
An experienced, well-resourced EMD team
- Our dedicated EMD team comprises veteran investors with many years of experience of managing the full spectrum of EMD.
The team follows a methodical process that starts with the assessment of the global macro environment, then proceeds to the sovereign analysis and individual corporate assessment.
The objective of the global macro analysis is to anticipate the general direction of global credit spreads, developed market rates and the US dollar by examining global macroeconomic trends.
A team of dedicated regional specialists conducts the sovereign analysis. Our final assessments encompass all relevant economic and political variables. We incorporate ESG factors into our decision-making by relying on our proprietary sovereign ESG framework that adjusts for a country’s level of economic development and policy effort. The strategy excludes the bottom quartile of ESG-scored sovereigns.
Dedicated EM corporate analysts working together with industry specialists from our global credit research team conduct corporate analysis. We consider data quality/track record, financial profile, relative value versus peers, qualitative factors, deal structure, and ESG. ESG is a core part of our corporate fundamental analysis, with the team employing a rigorous proprietary ESG rating system in which we score companies for material exposure to ESG risks. The strategy excludes corporates presenting significant ESG concerns.
For more information about our Credit capabilities
Risks
Fixed income securities and bond funds can lose value, and investors can lose principal, as interest rates rise. They also may be affected by economic conditions that hinder an issuer’s ability to make interest and principal payments on its debt.
The investment may also be subject to prepayment risk, the risk that the principal of a bond that is held by a portfolio will be prepaid prior to maturity, at the time when interest rates are lower than what the bond was paying. A portfolio may then have to reinvest that money at a lower interest rate.
International investments entail risks including fluctuation in currency values, differences in accounting principles, or economic or political instability. Investing in emerging markets can be riskier than investing in established foreign markets due to increased volatility, lower trading volume, and higher risk of market closures. In many emerging markets, there is substantially less publicly available information and the available information may be incomplete or misleading. Legal claims are generally more difficult to pursue.
Fluctuations in exchange rates between various foreign currencies may cause the value of the investment to decline. The market for some (or all) currencies may from time to time have low trading volume and become illiquid, which may prevent the Strategy from effecting positions or from promptly liquidating unfavourable positions in such markets, thus subjecting the investment to substantial losses.
IBOR risk is the risk that changes related to the use of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) or similar rates (such as EONIA) could have adverse impacts on financial instruments that reference these rates. The abandonment of these rates and transition to alternative rates could affect the value and liquidity of instruments that reference them and could affect investment strategy performance.
The disruptions caused by natural disasters, pandemics, or similar events could prevent the Strategy from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner and could negatively impact the Strategy’s ability to achieve its investment objective and the value of the Strategy’s investments.
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