Man GLG's Yuhn warns of 'crowded trades' within EMD as fund AUM balloons

AUM has grown to $2bn in a year

Phil Yuhn, co-manager of the Man GLG Global Emerging Markets Debt Total Return fund, has warned of liquidity issues in some parts of the asset class, as the firm's UCITS strategy grows to nearly $2bn within a year.

Yuhn told Investment Week lots of foreign investors have been upping their allocations to the asset class as other areas of fixed income become less and less attractive. BlackRock's reported EMD flows - both into local and hard currency vehicles - have dominated fixed income ETP figures every month so far this year, following a sell-off in Q4 2016 on the back of President Donald Trump's election victory and protectionist rhetoric. This year has also seen EMD fund launches from Jupiter and Invesco Perpetual in response to increased demand for the asset class. The drivers powering in...