VanEck’s Rodilosso On Emerging Markets Debt In A Rising Rates Environment

Fran Rodilosso, Head of Fixed Income ETF Portfolio Management, VanEck met with Julie Cooling, Founder & CEO, RIA Channel to discuss the current atmosphere surrounding emerging markets debt. “Emerging markets debt has attracted large flows over the last 12-18 months,” said Rodilosso.  In a rising interest rate market, he acknowledges that people may be asking, “why go towards a riskier asset class,” but Rodilosso emphasized that emerging markets debt actually encompasses “many different asset classes” and “is a very broad and diversified universe.” In both the sovereign and corporate sphere, Rodilosso cited cases of improved credit quality, and considerably higher real yields, relative to developed markets.  While Rodilosso recognizes the associated risks, he suggested that they are “often misperceived or overstated.” In addition to the risk premium, emerging markets offer great diversification, especially within credit and currency investments. Rodilosso, who has over 25 years of experience within emerging markets, says VanEck has active, equity, and hard asset teams all over the world, working to identify opportunities and trouble spots across the emerging markets space.