William Blair Investment Management Expands Mutual Fund Lineup With Launch of New Emerging Markets Debt Fund

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--William Blair Investment Management has today announced the launch of an Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency mutual fund to provide investors with exposure to the large and growing opportunity set within developing countries across the world.

The new fund is managed by an 11-person specialist emerging markets debt team, led by Marcelo Assalin, CFA, and Marco Ruijer, CFA. It will combine bottom-up and top-down analysis in order to identify performance drivers within developing countries across the Americas, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and seek to invest in fixed income securities that have the potential to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns.

The launch of the new fund is the latest addition to the suite of William Blair investment strategies available to U.S. investors. As of March 31, 2021, the company manages approximately $70 billion of assets.

“Investors are showing increasing interest in emerging markets, recognizing both the ability of these regions to meaningfully contribute to portfolios and the challenges faced by more developed countries,” said Marcelo Assalin, CFA, head of Emerging Markets Debt at William Blair Investment Management. “We see significant room for further growth and issuance within emerging markets, which we believe currently offer the most attractive value within the fixed income space, and therefore believe investors can benefit substantially from exposure to these highly attractive developing markets.”

“The launch of this new fund further strengthens our well-established emerging markets franchise and expands the range of investment strategies available to U.S. investors,” said Robert Duwa, CFA, partner, head of North America Distribution at William Blair Investment Management. “We have seen strong interest from investors since the appointment of our specialist emerging markets debt team, and we are pleased to offer the opportunity to benefit from this team’s experience and strong track record.”

About William Blair

William Blair is the premier global boutique with expertise in investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet our clients' evolving needs. As an independent and employee-owned firm, together with our strategic partners, we operate in more than 20 offices worldwide.*

William Blair Investment Management is a premier global investment management boutique, with a sole focus on active management across equity, fixed income, currency and multi-asset strategies. We are a U.N.-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Signatory, Tier-1 U.K. Stewardship Signatory, Investor Stewardship Group Member (Framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance), and Signatory to the Japan and Korea Stewardship Codes. We work closely with private and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as financial advisors. As of 31 March 2021, William Blair Investment Management manages approximately $70 billion in assets. For more information on William Blair Funds, please visit www.williamblairfunds.com.

*Includes strategic partnerships with Allier Capital, BDA Partners, and Poalim Capital Markets

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