iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Market Bond fund breaks $200m

iShares, the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) arm of Barclays Global Investors and Europe's largest provider of ETFs, has announced the iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Market Bond fund has raised over $200 million in assets since its launch in February this year, reflecting the continued demand from investors for emerging market exposure.

Furthermore, the increasing world demand for commodities is helping to boost countries rich in natural resources making them attractive to bond investors.

The Fund - the first of its kind in Europe - gives investors access to US Dollar denominated sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds issued by emerging market countries including; Russia, Brazil and Mexico.

Commenting, Alex Claringbull, senior fixed income portfolio manager, iShares said: "The strong demand for the iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Market Bond fund, one of our most successful fixed income product launches to date, shows that investor demand for emerging market fixed income exposure is currently very strong."

He continued: "The Fund enables investors to take advantage of attractive yields and improving credit quality in emerging markets, as well as access its strong risk-adjusted returns in comparison to developed market bonds - in a transparent, highly-liquid, and cost-effective way."

He concluded: "Overall, we expect to see assets in fixed income ETFs to grow by over 200 per cent over the next three years. The success of the iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Market Bond fund is further evidence of the continued acceptance and demand by the investment community for fixed income ETF products."

iShares is the world's leading provider of ETFs, and has 14 fixed income funds across its 59 products listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).