Asset allocation
Applied philosophy: Are commodities too optimistic?
Welcome to Applied philosophy, our view on global equity market model sector allocation.
May 29, 2025
Fixed income
Emerging Markets Local Debt
Our Emerging Markets Local Debt specialists sit within our Global Debt team offering local expertise within a broad, global lens to provide our clients with a diversified investment approach. Our strategy is anchored by our macroeconomic framework, and we target income generation and long-term growth for investors.
$6bn
The team manages USD 6 billion across its global platform, including USD 2.5 billion in emerging market local currency strategies.
20 years
Managing emerging market debt portfolios.
80 countries
We cover more than 80 countries and integrate ESG into the investment processes of each of our strategies.
What is emerging market debt?
Emerging market debt is the fixed income debt that is issued by countries with developing economies as well as by corporations within those nations. It includes local and hard currency. Since countries can be at different stages in the economic cycle, interest rates and returns can be uncorrelated to those in developed markets.
A top-down global macroeconomic approach
We cover more than 80 countries and integrate ESG into the investment processes of each of our strategies, using a qualitative and quantitative framework. We don’t view markets or regions in isolation, instead we use a top-down global macro analysis to see how developed and EM economies are linked to help identify risks for a portfolio. By investing in emerging market debt our clients can benefit from diversification in their fixed income strategy and yield enhancement.
Incorporating ESG
We believe that the integration of ESG into sovereign investing needs to incorporate an assessment of a government’s policy intentions. We make efforts to integrate ESG factors at all steps of the investment process and portfolio construction. We believe countries with good government quality and a strong pro-investment policy mindset are inherently beneficial to long-term sustainability. This has an enduring positive environmental and social impact on the wellbeing of these country’s citizens.
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FAQs
Emerging market debt is the fixed income debt that is issued by countries with developing economies as well as by corporations within those nations. It includes local and hard currency.
Broad fixed income markets have declined in 2022. Emerging market (EM) debt has suffered one of its largest selloffs since the 1990s, even though bottom-up fundamentals are relatively sound. However, we believe the emerging market offers a long-term optimistic outlook for investors.
Local currency bonds are debt securities issued by sovereigns or corporates in their local currency. The return drivers come from local yields, capital appreciation (changes in yield curve or credit standing) and FX. Since countries can be at different stages in the economic cycle, interest rates and returns can be uncorrelated to those in developed markets. Given continued growth, local currency bonds tend to be more liquid than hard currency bonds and the list of markets with investible/liquid local bond markets that are accessible to foreign investors, continues to increase.
Hard currency bonds are debt securities issued by sovereigns or corporates in other currencies – usually in a developed market currency, such as the USD or euro. Many low income, weaker developing countries, “frontier markets” are incented to issue in hard currency to attract foreign investment (perceived as less risky if issued as a USD or euro asset) versus issuing in their local currency.
You can invest in emerging market debt by either investing in actively managed mutual funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs). Invesco offers a broad range of actively managed funds and ETFs.
The integration of ESG into investment practice is rapidly evolving for fixed income investors. There is growing regulatory interest and market demand for sustainable investments. In addition to a growing preference for some investors.
The return drivers come from local yields, capital appreciation (changes in yield curve or credit standing) and forex (FX).
