Emerging Bond Investors Haven’t Been This Defensive Since Lehman
- High grade bonds outperform junk bonds by most since late 2008
- Chile, Latin America’s strongest credit, is best-performing EM
Pedestrians pass in front of the Santiago Stock Exchange in downtown Santiago, Chile.
Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With the U.S. and China’s trade war appearing to take a new turn every day, emerging-market investors are getting more cautious. By one measure, they are the most defensive they have been in more than a decade.
High-grade dollar bonds in developing nations have returned 3% this month, while junk-rated securities in emerging markets have lost 2.7%, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s indexes. The last time the outperformance of the former was so big was in October 2008, the month after Lehman Brothers collapsed.