Hidden GEMs: An EM debt investor’s navigation guide to 2026
After a year that pushed emerging market (EM) debt further into the mainstream, opportunities to capture alpha persist across regions and instruments.
6 Feb 2024
57 minutes
As allocators continue to deliberate how best to access opportunities across emerging markets, we brought together three experts to share their experiences in this asset class and debate the risks and opportunities that lie ahead.
The headwinds facing EM debt today are cyclical and manageable, with mispricing and divergence across countries creating a fertile hunting ground for active investors. Crucially, the strength of structural tailwinds behind the asset class is undiminished.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
Overlapping pressures across agriculture, fertiliser and energy markets could create fresh inflationary risks this year, with wide ranging implications for commodity markets, monetary policy and emerging market assets.
Recent election results point to a political pivot with positive implications for debt markets. Dynamics in this key region are reflective of broader shifts across the maturing EM debt market.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
As global investors reassess their allocations, emerging markets are entering the second half of the year from a position of genuine strength.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
Frontier markets are increasingly relevant for today’s portfolios, but expertise and conviction are vital for successful investment outcomes.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
Three members of our EM Debt team went to Washington, DC – we asked them to share their highlights and pointers for investors, including a behind-the-scenes perspective on this important annual event.
Pressure is building in US private debt as weaker underwriting standards, rising defaults and AI-disruption risks combine to create a perfect storm. In contrast, investors in emerging markets can access asset-heavy borrowers, in deal structures that offer higher senior-secured yields and stronger protections.
Oil shocks don’t just disrupt, they accelerate change. Higher prices and energy insecurity are fast-tracking the shift to electrification and clean technology, led by emerging markets.
Reflections on developments across the EM Debt investment universe in March, and the EM Debt team's latest outlook and positioning.
Reflections on developments across the EM Debt investment universe in February, with an update on portfolio positioning in the context of the current conflict in the Middle East.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
Sahil Mahtani, Director of Ninety One’s Investment Institute, and Paul Gooden, Portfolio Manager for Global Natural Resources, discuss Venezuela and broader energy themes following the Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference in Miami.
After a year that pushed emerging market (EM) debt further into the mainstream, opportunities to capture alpha persist across regions and instruments.
Our EM Debt team shares its latest outlook and positioning across the investment universe.
Sahil Mahtani, Director of Ninety One’s Investment Institute, and Nicolas Jaquier, EM Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, are joined by Phil Gunson, Senior Analyst at the International Crisis Group, who is based in Caracas for an on-the-ground perspective on the rapidly evolving situation in Venezuela.
Maduro’s exit raises the chance of change, but power is likely to remain with the security state as the US opts for pressure and negotiation over regime overhaul. Markets appear ahead of reality, with any improvement in oil and debt outcomes likely to be slow and uneven.

In this series of articles, our EM debt team tackles the topics that are top of investors’ minds and provide insights for asset allocators currently deliberating EM debt.
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