I've just added SEML.L (an emerging market government bond ETF) to my investment portfolio, following a quick trawl through a list if iShares ETF yields.
This ETF contains a broad based holding of local currency denominated government bonds, with the largest holdings in Malaysia, Poland, Mexico, South Africa & Turkey, currently 14 countries in total. It currently has a distribution yield of around 5.6%, having seen the unit price fall over the first half of the year - i suspect this is more a result of depreciating local currencies than any specific credit risk concerns.
I currently hold a reasonable amount of emerging market equities ETFs, which have also fallen in value on weaker currencies. Rather than continuing to add to these, it seemed like a good opportunity to increase the fixed income portion of my investment portfolio instead & lock in a solid income stream.
Many of the countries within the ETF are not subject to the current US/UK/Eurozone style low interest rate enviroments, so i hope there would be less chance of material capital depreciation from rising rates. FX movements, however, would remain a risk going forward if the trends of the last year continue.
I paid around GBP48.7 per unit, the investment size was broadly comparable to most of my new ETF purchases.
