BlackRock’s iShares business has launched a local currency emerging market debt exchange-traded fund (ETF) following ‘sustained’ demand from investors for access to the asset class.
The iShares Barclays Capital Emerging Market Local Govt Bond fund is listed on the London Stock Exchange and invests in physical bonds, providing investors with diversified exposure to a sector “which can be difficult and costly to capture directly”.
Axel Lomholt, head of product development for iShares EMEA said: “Two reasons for this demand are the high yield of these bonds and the currency potential. Over the past two years, many of the emerging market currencies appreciated versus hard currencies like the US-dollar, euro or sterling.”
The ETF complements the iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Market Bond fund.
©2011 funds europe