PGIM's Emerging Market Debt strategies focus on the bottom-up value analysis in our investment process and our investment horizon focuses more on the medium-long-term. Our emerging markets debt team has been investing in the different sectors of emerging markets debt for decades, through changing market cycles, utilizing a defined and consistent process.
We utilize a team-based approach in our emerging market debt strategies, leveraging the diverse backgrounds and expertise of our entire emerging markets debt team.
The team manages emerging markets assets across hard currency strategies, dedicated local currency strategies, blended currency strategies, dedicated emerging markets corporate strategies, yield-oriented strategies, and a long/short strategy.
Strong Track Record Since Inception from Diversified Sources of Alpha
- Dedicated emerging markets strategies in hard and local currency sovereign, blend, and corporates
- Investing in local markets since 2003
A Well-Resourced Investment Management Team with Extensive Experience and Tenure
- 35 specialists in portfolio management, economics/sovereign analysts, and corporate credit provide ability to nimbly extract alpha from numerous sources
- Senior members started PGIM's emerging markets effort in 1995
- Proprietary sovereign analysis incorporates sustainability assessments
A Deep Culture of Risk Management, Quantitative Research, and Bottom-Up Credit Research
- Independent risk management/quantitative research team of 72
- Extensive credit research team of 99
Emerging Markets Strategies
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Emerging Markets Debt Investor UpdatePGIM hosted our quarterly Emerging Markets Debt Investor Update on April 28, 2026. This webcast included a market update, details on current positioning, and potential opportunities.
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OutlookQ1 2026 Outlook for Emerging Market DebtFirst quarter 2026 market outlook for Emerging Market Debt provided by Cathy Hepworth, CFA, Head of Emerging Markets Debt.
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Emerging MarketsThe Emerging Markets Beat Goes OnThis paper focuses on emerging markets’ role in rescripting the New World Order amidst the pervasive geopolitical, global macro, and country specific challenges. If and as these developments unfold, the impact across countries would be varied, expanding the opportunities for alpha generation.
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*Staff as of December 31, 2025.
Emerging Markets FAQ
What are emerging markets fixed income (EMD) investments?
Emerging markets fixed income, or EMD, refers to debt securities issued by governments, government-related entities, and corporations domiciled in developing economies. The asset class spans hard currency sovereign bonds (typically USD-denominated), local currency sovereign bonds, and emerging market corporate debt, offering investors diversified exposure to higher-yielding fixed income across Latin America, EMEA, and Asia.
How does PGIM Fixed Income approach emerging markets debt investing?
PGIM Fixed Income takes a research-driven, fundamentals-based approach that combines top-down country analysis with bottom-up security selection. Our dedicated emerging markets team leverages proprietary sovereign and corporate credit research, macroeconomic analysis, and quantitative tools to identify relative value opportunities across hard currency, local currency, and corporate EMD sectors.
What are the main types of emerging markets debt strategies offered?
PGIM Fixed Income offers four primary EMD strategy categories: hard currency sovereign debt, local currency sovereign debt, emerging markets corporate debt, and blended/total-return EMD strategies. Each can be customized for institutional clients based on benchmark, currency exposure, duration targets, and ESG considerations.
What benchmarks are typically used for emerging markets fixed income strategies?
The most common EMD benchmarks include the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Index for hard currency sovereigns, the J.P. Morgan GBI-EM Global Diversified Index for local currency sovereigns, and the J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Index for emerging markets corporates. Blended strategies often reference custom composites of these indices.
What are the key risks of investing in emerging markets debt?
The principal risks of emerging markets debt include sovereign credit risk, currency volatility (for local currency exposure), liquidity risk, political and geopolitical risk, and sensitivity to global financial conditions and U.S. interest rates. Disciplined risk management, diversification across countries and issuers, and active duration and currency positioning are central to mitigating these risks.
Why might institutional investors allocate to emerging markets debt?
Institutional investors typically allocate to EMD to capture higher yield relative to developed market debt, gain diversification benefits from less-correlated economic cycles, and access growth in developing economies. EMD can also serve as a source of total return and inflation-linked exposure within a broader fixed income allocation.
How does PGIM integrate ESG into emerging markets fixed income decisions?
PGIM Fixed Income integrates ESG factors into its sovereign and corporate credit research process, evaluating governance quality, environmental risks, and social indicators alongside traditional credit metrics. Country-level ESG scoring informs sovereign positioning, while issuer-level ESG analysis is incorporated into corporate credit recommendations across EMD portfolios.
What differentiates PGIM Fixed Income's emerging markets capability?
PGIM Fixed Income's EMD capability is differentiated by the depth of its global credit research platform, scale of assets under management, and integration of sovereign, corporate, and currency expertise within a single team. With decades of experience investing across market cycles and a presence in major financial centers, the team delivers institutional-grade portfolio construction supported by proprietary research and risk infrastructure.
