The CO Eurizon SLJ Emerging Market Bond Strategic Income UCITS ETF is managed by a team recognised globally for macroeconomic and currency research. Actively managed and benchmark-unconstrained, the strategy invests across hard-currency emerging market bonds with a tilt to corporates. Its Yield per Unit of Quality framework ensures that income is assessed against fundamentals, liquidity, and ESG standards, not just headline yield.
"With emerging market debt, the challenge has never been about finding yield. It’s about finding yield that lasts. We aim to strip out unrewarded risks and deliver income from EM bonds that belongs in more than just high-risk portfolios."
Stephen Jen - CEO & co-CIO
At a glance
Quality-enhanced Emerging Market income: focused on hard-currency emerging market bonds with a tilt to corporates, delivering yield that is fundamentally supported, not cosmetic.
Actively managed, benchmark-unconstrained: combining top-down macro research with bottom-up credit selection to build a portfolio that aims to avoid uncompensated risk.
Yield per Unit of Quality: our framework measures income against credit strength, liquidity, and sustainability standards, seeking resilience through changing conditions.
Led by recognised macro experts: managed by a globally respected team with deep experience in macroeconomics, currencies, and emerging market debt.
Fund Details & Share Classes
Fund Managers: Stephen Jen, Fatih Yilmaz, Yasmine Ravai
Benchmark: No benchmark
Fund Launch: 2nd July 2024
London Listing: 14th January 2025
Fund Documents: See the bottom of the page.
Class A1 GBP Hedged Acc
ISIN: IE000356FN00
Ticker: EBGA
Total Expense Ratio: 0.50%
Currency: Hedged
Class A GBP Hedged Dis
ISIN: IE000U8A7X11
Ticker: EBGD
Total Expense Ratio: 0.50%
Currency: Hedged
Class A1 USD Unhedged Acc
ISIN: IE000AM06QU6
Ticker: EBUA
Total Expense Ratio: 0.50%
Currency: Unhedged
Class A1 EUR Hedged Acc
ISIN: IE000J0NCWR5
Ticker: Unlisted
Total Expense Ratio: 0.50%
Currency: Hedged
Class A EUR Hedged Dis
ISIN: IE000HO03Z85
Ticker: EBGD
Total Expense Ratio: 0.50%
Currency: Hedged
Why Emerging Markets Bonds Belong in GBP Portfolios
"Emerging markets account for a growing share of global output and investment opportunity. Our approach anchors income in macro research and quality, combining selection discipline, liquidity, and ESG integrity in a portfolio designed to complement sterling-based allocations."
Yasmine Ravai - Senior Portfolio Manager
A Tactical Perception in a Changing World
Index-driven Emerging Market strategies often embed distressed or volatile exposures that create cosmetic yield without lasting support.
This has reinforced the view of emerging market bonds as tactical or high-risk allocations, rather than a strategic part of portfolios.
Meanwhile, emerging market economies are expanding their share of global output, while developed markets face slower growth and heavier debt.
From Tactical Exposure to Structural Opportunity
The Centre of Global Economic Gravity is shifting toward emerging markets, and their bond markets reflect this structural change.
Many emerging market sovereigns and corporates now exhibit stronger fiscal frameworks, lower leverage, and more credible policy settings than in past cycles.
A disciplined framework, macro-led allocation and a focus on Yield per Unit of Quality, can convert this breadth into more resilient income.
Our Investment Philosophy
We believe that:
Yield needs to be earned through quality, not inflated by risk. Many emerging market bond indices carry uncompensated risks, distressed issuers, FX volatility, or illiquid structures that don’t reliably improve outcomes.
There is a better approach. Income should be fundamentally supported, resilient through cycles, and aligned with fixed-income investors’ expectations.
Macro insights should guide allocation, not index weights. Inefficiencies in global growth, policy, and currency markets create opportunities; our orthogonal insights help identify them.
Yield should be measured through the discipline of Yield per Unit of Quality, assessing income against credit, liquidity, and sustainability standards to ensure it is earned, not cosmetic.
Investment Approach
“Yield per unit of quality is our anchor. It helps us target income that belongs in more than just high-risk portfolios. We aim to capture the best opportunities across the emerging market risk-return spectrum, building a quality-enhanced reference portfolio that reflects real structural factors often missed by indices. The result is a cycle-neutral strategy - less volatile through time, yet flexible enough to adapt as conditions change.”
Yasmine Ravai - Senior Portfolio Manager
A Disciplined Process
- Macro view → identifying strategic preferences by region, sector, and duration
- Exclusions → distressed debt, CCC-rated or below, complex structures, illiquid bonds
- Quality focus → Yield per unit of Quality, minimum 51% investment grade, fundamental & ESG strength
- Disciplined construction → position sizing based on credit + macro + liquidity confidence, maximum 3% per issuer, one bond per issuer.
Addressing Uncompensated Risk
- Distressed issuers → excluded from our investable universe.
- FX volatility → GBP-Hedged access: portfolio currently 100% hard-currency; no local bonds today.
- Illiquidity → strict size and liquidity screens; one bond per issuer; 3% cap.
- Cosmetic yield → income measured per unit of quality, not just headline yield.
Eurizon SLJ and the Team
We combine internationally recognised macroeconomic and FX expertise with deep experience in emerging markets. Stephen Jen and Fatih Yilmaz have worked together for over two decades, including in senior research and currency roles at major investment firms, and founded SLJ Macro Partners in 2011. That partnership shaped a platform where investment decisions are anchored in disciplined, decision-relevant research and a culture of rigorous debate.
Our team reflects that ethos. Across the broader team, we have 3 PhDs and 9 Master’s degrees, alongside multilingual and multicultural perspectives that support nuanced Emerging Market analysis and portfolio construction discipline. This blend of macro insight, analytical depth, and diversity of thought underpins how we approach emerging market fixed income.
In November 2025, Eurizon SLJ Capital acquired the business and talent of Fideuram Asset Management UK, expanding the platform’s capability and capacity. Following that acquisition, Roberto Demartini joined as Co-CIO alongside Stephen and Fatih, supporting leadership of the expanded investment platform within Eurizon Capital SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group).
We combine internationally recognised macroeconomic and FX expertise with deep experience in emerging markets. Stephen Jen and Fatih Yilmaz have worked together for over two decades, including in senior research and currency roles at major investment firms, and founded SLJ Macro Partners in 2011. That partnership shaped a platform where investment decisions are anchored in disciplined, decision-relevant research and a culture of rigorous debate.
Our team reflects that ethos. Across the broader team, we have 3 PhDs and 9 Master’s degrees, alongside multilingual and multicultural perspectives that support nuanced Emerging Market analysis and portfolio construction discipline. This blend of macro insight, analytical depth, and diversity of thought underpins how we approach emerging market fixed income.
In November 2025, Eurizon SLJ Capital acquired the business and talent of Fideuram Asset Management UK, expanding the platform’s capability and capacity. Following that acquisition, Roberto Demartini joined as Co-CIO alongside Stephen and Fatih, supporting leadership of the expanded investment platform within Eurizon Capital SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group).
Fund Literature Downloads
Latest thinking
Inflation, Weak Growth, and What Comes Next for the UK
Episode 182: We break down UK inflation and weak retail data ahead of the Budget, key economic releases across Europe and Asia, and the latest US indi
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Fiscal Strains, Hawkish Signals, and the Return of US Data
Episode 181: Fiscal Strains, Hawkish Signals, and the Return of US Data: The UK: Fiscal Tension and a Slowing Economy; Europe, the RBA, and Global PMI
Holding, Waiting, Watching: The UK, China, and U.S. in Focus
Episode 180: Holding, Waiting, Watching: The UK, China, and U.S. in Focus. The UK: Bank of England’s Dilemma and Fiscal Tightening Ahead; Global Out
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