William Blair Expands Taiwan Offering With Emerging Markets Debt Fund
William Blair Investment Management is broadening its footprint in Taiwan with the registration of another investment fund. The latest addition focuses on emerging markets local currency debt, an asset class the US investment manager sees benefiting from attractive real yields and improving fundamentals.
William Blair Investment Management (WBIM) is expanding its fixed-income offering in Taiwan with the launch of the William Blair Emerging Markets Debt Local Currency SICAV Fund in the market.
The fund becomes the investment manager’s fourth SICAV registered in Taiwan, underlining the market’s growing importance to the firm’s Asian distribution strategy.
It follows the registrations of the Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency SICAV Fund, the U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth SICAV Fund and the U.S. Large Cap Growth SICAV Fund.
Building Out Taiwan Presence
The latest launch broadens William Blair’s offering in Taiwan beyond US equities and hard-currency emerging markets debt, giving investors access to an actively managed strategy focused on local currencies and interest rates across emerging economies.
William Blair said the move reflects its long-term commitment to Taiwan and its ambition to provide investors with differentiated investment strategies.
The emerging markets debt team manages approximately 1.2 billion dollar across its strategies as of the end of June 2026. Its investment professionals are based across Boston, London, The Hague and Singapore, giving the Asian hub a role in the firm's global emerging markets debt capabilities.
Looking Beyond Currency Risk
The new strategy combines top-down macroeconomic analysis with bottom-up country and security selection. It is actively managed without being constrained by a benchmark, allowing the managers to allocate across countries as well as adjust duration, yield-curve positioning and currency exposure.
William Blair believes the current environment presents a particularly interesting opportunity for local-currency emerging markets debt.
«We consider that emerging markets local currency debt remains one of the most compelling yet underappreciated segments of the global fixed income market,» said Lih-Yann Tan, CEO of William Blair International (Singapore) and Head of Asian Distribution for WBIM.
According to Tan, stronger policy frameworks in many emerging economies, attractive real interest rates and favourable longer-term growth prospects are improving the case for the asset class.
More Than an FX Bet
For William Blair, the investment opportunity is not limited to potential currency appreciation.
«Investors often view local currency debt primarily through the lens of currency movements, but the opportunity set extends well beyond foreign exchange,» said Lewis Jones, local currency portfolio manager on William Blair’s Emerging Markets Debt team.
Local-currency debt provides exposure to both domestic bond markets and currencies, creating several potential sources of return. At the same time, William Blair sees country-specific fundamentals playing an increasingly important role in differentiating opportunities across emerging markets.
The manager points to healthy external balances, continued foreign direct investment and broadly stable current-account positions as supportive factors. A number of emerging market central banks also have room to maintain a patient monetary-policy stance.
Selectivity Remains Key
That does not remove the risks. Geopolitical uncertainty and shifts in the global macroeconomic environment could continue to generate bouts of volatility.
William Blair is therefore emphasising active country selection rather than broad regional allocations. The investment team uses a proprietary methodology that groups countries according to their risk profiles, seeking to identify relative-value opportunities across local rates and currencies.
The fund is managed by Marcelo Assalin, Partner and Head of Emerging Markets Debt, and Jones.
The Taiwan launch comes after William Blair was named Best Emerging Markets Local Currency Fixed Income Manager at the 2025 Citywire Asia Asset Management Awards, adding another building block to the firm's effort to expand its investment offering to Asian investors.
