William Blair Investment Management ( WBIM ) has launched an emerging markets debt hard currency Sicav fund in Taiwan to address the growing investor appetite for diversified, high-yielding fixed income solutions.

The fund is WBIM’s second Sicav registered in Taiwan, following the launch of the US Small-Mid Cap Growth Sicav Fund in November 2024. The expansion underscores the firm’s long-term strategy of offering institutional-grade, actively managed strategies tailored to the evolving needs of investors across the region, the company says.

The EMD HC Sicav Fund aims to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns by investing primarily in hard currency-denominated sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt issued by emerging market economies.

The strategy combines rigorous bottom-up credit research with top-down macroeconomic analysis and integrates environmental, social, and governance ( ESG ) factors throughout the investment process.

“Economic data shows that emerging markets exhibit stronger growth and improving debt metrics despite global uncertainties. With a proven track record in hard currency EM debt, William Blair is well positioned to help investors capture these opportunities,” says Lih-Yann Tan, chief executive officer of William Blair International ( Singapore ) and head of Asian distribution for WBIM.

“For investors in Taiwan looking for yield and income, the EMD HC benchmark is currently yielding more than 7.9%. Our strategy has a strong focus on risk management and diversification, which has resulted in significant downside protection in unfavourable market conditions, resulting in a strong upside/downside capture ratio and competitive risk-adjusted performance versus peers.”

Disciplined approach

The fund is managed by Marcelo Assalin, partner and head of the emerging markets debt team at William Blair, alongside Marco Ruijer, partner, and a highly experienced team of portfolio managers and analysts.

The team has been working together since 2013 at NN Investment Partners ( now merged with Goldman Sachs ). Since joining WBIM in March 2020, the team has continued to deliver a stellar five-year track record, bringing with them a deep understanding of the asset class.

The EMD HC Sicav Fund employs a disciplined approach, with 60% to 70% in high yield and strict issuer limits for diversification. Its focus on frontier markets and high-conviction ideas has driven strong performance across market cycles.

“Fundamentals within EM debt remain resilient, as we see a healthy growth differential compared with developed markets persisting into 2026. Near-term credit risk remains low in the sovereign credit space, in our opinion, as we see no new defaults materializing over the next year, which we think makes fundamentals in EM credit look stronger than in DM credit,” says Assalin.