Oaktree believes that the inefficient, complex and dynamic emerging markets credit universe offers a unique opportunity for skilled investors to identify attractively priced investments by employing bottom-up, fundamental analysis. To address this opportunity, Oaktree launched the Emerging Markets Debt Total Return strategy in 2015 as a step-out to our Emerging Markets Opportunities strategy. The Emerging Markets Debt Total Return strategy seeks to achieve an attractive total return by investing primarily in performing emerging markets credit-oriented instruments on an unleveraged basis.
Our approach emphasizes Oaktree's investment philosophy, which is rooted in fundamental credit analysis and valuation discipline, with a bias toward risk control. We seek to distinguish our Emerging Markets Debt Total Return strategy from the competition by capitalizing on Oaktree’s expansive credit platform and our highly experienced team of Oaktree investment professionals and external network of local advisors.
"We believe attractive total return may be available to investors who can hold a non-index-based, actively managed portfolio of emerging markets credits,” says Julio Herrera, the strategy’s portfolio manager, who has over 20 years of experience investing in emerging markets and also manages Oaktree’s Emerging Markets Opportunities strategy. “Moreover, limited dealer liquidity and periodic volatility in emerging markets may enable us to act as a provider of liquidity when short-term investors seek to divest their emerging market investments."