EUROPE – Deutsche Bank has launched an emerging markets corporate bond index with a European bias and a reduced focus on Latin America. The Emerging Markets Liquid Eurobond Euro index consists of 21 components that the company say are the most liquid benchmark bonds in any hard currency.

“ The EMLE index makes the jump from theoretical to practical. It is the first truly investible index that reflects and tracks the economic reality of emerging market countries from a European perspective,” says José Luis Daza, global head of emerging market strategy at Deutsche Bank.

The target maturity of the index is nine years and the returns are currency hedged, says Deutsche Bank. The average credit rating of the index components is just under Ba2/BB with minimum rating of B-/B3 and a maximum rating of A-/A3.

“ The EMLE index represents a true innovation in fixed income, allowing European investors to track global emerging markets for the first time. It goes a step further than prevailing emerging market indices in its representation of emerging economies, its replicability and highly transparent nature,” says Alfred Roelli, head of private banking investment strategy at the bank.