JPMorgan GBI-EM Index
| Company type | Financial index |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | June 2005 |
| Products | Local currency government bond indices |
| Parent | JPMorgan Chase |
The JPMorgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) series serves as a comprehensive set of benchmarks that monitor local currency debt issued by governments within Emerging markets. Introduced in June 2005, it was the pioneering global index focusing on local Emerging Market bonds. As governments in Emerging Markets increasingly turn to domestic funding sources, investors pursue these local markets to achieve greater yield opportunities and portfolio diversification.
With the narrowing of external debt spreads, the expansion in both demand and supply is anticipated to enhance the depth of local bond markets, which the GBI-EM indices effectively represent. After the initial release, diversified variants of GBI-EM and GBI-EM BROAD were launched in January 2006. Subsequently, the GBI-EM GLOBAL index debuted in November 2006, providing an investable alternative to GBI-EM BROAD by excluding China and India. The GBI-EM family encompasses 18 nations spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East/Africa regions.
Index suite
GBI-EM Broad
The GBI-EM Broad index is a comprehensive benchmark that includes all qualifying countries regardless of capital restrictions or regulatory and tax barriers faced by foreign investors. As of November 2013, it covered 18 emerging economies: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey.
JP Morgan announced a gradual removal of Nigeria from this index over a two-month period starting September 30, 2015, due to Central Bank policies limiting foreign investors' access to the foreign exchange market.
GBI-EM Global
The GBI-EM Global index serves as an investable benchmark consisting of countries accessible to most international investors. It excludes nations with explicit capital controls but does not consider regulatory or tax obstacles. This index includes all GBI-EM countries along with Brazil's NTN-F and LTN bonds and Colombia's local TES tasa fija bond. Constituent countries are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, India, Egypt, and South Africa. Countries requiring foreign investor registration or transaction notifications remain eligible.
GBI-EM
The GBI-EM index represents the replicable or narrow subset that restricts inclusion to countries freely accessible without barriers for foreign investors. As of July 2022, it comprises China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa. Additionally, it applies a more selective bond eligibility for Colombia.