hero image

Investing in emerging market debt

We unlock the full potential of emerging market debt with flexible strategies, robust fundamental analysis, and rigorous risk management.

Spanning over 140 countries and representing USD 3.4 trillion*, emerging market debt is a vast and diverse investment universe. With more than half of its issuers investment-grade, this maturing market is a dynamic one presenting compelling alpha-generation and diversification opportunities created by profound geopolitical shifts such as deglobalisation and supply chain localisation.

*Bloomberg Finance L.P.

Play our latest podcast episode

Listen to our experts Thomas Christiansen and Lamine Bougueroua as they explore how emerging market debt offers unique opportunities to generate returns while navigating the complexities of today’s evolving global landscape.

Let's discuss your project

Why invest in emerging market debt?

- Access to the fastest‑growing markets in the world

- Attractive yield premium compared with developed markets

- Opportunities in EM debt arising from uneven market dynamics

Looking to invest in emerging market debt?

Contact us to find out more about how we can work together on your goals in the best possible way.

Frequently asked questions about emerging market debt

You may find answers to your emerging market investment questions here. If you don’t, feel free to reach out to us.

EM debt combines attractive yields, improving credit quality, and wide valuation gaps. In a fragmented global landscape, it offers rich opportunities for active managers to generate alpha through selective exposure and disciplined risk management.

The divergent economic trajectories of individual EM countries are a crucial source of potential returns. By conducting rigorous analysis to identify winners and avoid losers, skilled active managers can exploit these dispersions to enhance alpha and optimise portfolio diversification.

Navigating the complexities of EMD requires a keen awareness of the risks involved. These include timing market entries and exits, benchmarking against fragmented indices, managing volatility spikes, factoring in macroeconomic uncertainties, and ensuring adequate liquidity.

UBP stands out with a flexible, high-conviction approach anchored in deep fundamental research and macro insight. Our team of seasoned specialists dynamically allocates across sovereign, corporate, and local debt—focusing on credit quality, liquidity, and idiosyncratic opportunities. Supported by proprietary tools and disciplined risk management, we aim at turning market fragmentation and dispersion into alpha, while preserving capital through active diversification and volatility control.

Meet our emerging market debt team

If you have plans to invest in emerging market debt and wish to discuss opportunities with our experts, get in touch.

Meet the team

  • Expertise: corporate credit, local-currency & hard-currency sovereigns, and thematic & dynamic strategies
  • Seasoned professionals with a strong track record in responsible emerging market debt investing
  • Actively managed high‑conviction strategies
  • Broad skill set covering long‑only and ESG strategies across EM debt
Discuss with our experts

Looking to gain specific EM debt exposure?

Our investment process is designed to navigate the complexities of emerging markets, which are influenced in different ways by global financial conditions. Traditional analysis alone doesn’t capture the full range of performance drivers across this diverse landscape. 

  • Global market analysis – We assess global market trends to understand how they influence each country's macroeconomic outlook, credit quality, risk profile, and liquidity.
  • Fundamental analysis – We conduct fundamental country and credit analysis to identify meaningful signals and separate them from short‑term noise.
  • Dynamic portfolios – We dynamically adjust the asset allocation and country selection as financial conditions evolve, in an approach focused on strong convictions and best ideas.
  • Robust risk management – We apply proprietary analysis and use monitoring tools to navigate shifting market regimes and ensure diversification and liquidity.
  • ESG – We fully integrate ESG considerations into our research and portfolio management, identifying investment opportunities with positive sustainability characteristics and exposure to impactful themes.

Core strategies

They provide broad exposure to sovereign and corporate emerging market debt across hard and local currencies, combining high-conviction ideas and income generation with strong risk management.

Emerging Market Corporate Bond
Emerging Market Sovereign Bond
Emerging Market Responsible Local Bond
Emerging Market Responsible Income Opportunities

Thematic & dynamic exposure strategies

They offer flexible allocation and access to niche segments of EM debt, targeting high-carry, post-restructuring, and off-benchmark opportunities through dynamic, unconstrained approaches.

Emerging Market Frontier Bond
Emerging Market High Alpha Bond

23.09.2025

The financial tectonics shifts shaping bond markets that investors cannot afford to ignore

Just as tectonic plate movements can trigger earthquakes and reshape landscapes, financial tectonics shifts are being driven by three forces that are compelling investors to rethink their approach to bond markets: the fragmentation of the global economy, fiscal indiscipline, and the tsunami of passive investing.

27.03.2025

Building a resilient bond portfolio in the new inflation and interest rate era

With inflation and interest rates pushing up rather than down and fast-changing policies and scenarios in the US, UBP’s fixed-income experts explore how investors can put together a flexible and resilient bond portfolio in an approach favouring the long term.

18.02.2025

Navigating the 2025 Fixed Income Landscape

The year started with volatility in rates, as the 10-year Treasury yield oscillates amid shifting market dynamics.

Subscribe to our newsletters