The dominant sentiment across the emerging markets is optimism about credit fundamentals.
As the shocks from Asia, Russia and Brazil recede, the emerging markets are enjoying a return of investor confidence, with ratings upgrades in Mexico, Turkey and Russia, and increasing confidence in Brazil.
"What's different now compared with other years," says Iain Hardie, head of emerging markets fixed income at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, "is that whereas in the past the emerging markets have been the core of investor concern and the core of volatility, this is not presently the case. We've been in a situation for most of this year where the market has been looking for opportunities to do better, and generally has done so. But it's been a case of doing better when external factors allow."
No bond house has done better at capitalizing on this broad bullishness than Morgan Stanley, showing not only superior volumes of issuance but covering an unmatched range of regions and sectors. "We're proud of the breadth of business we've done, geographically and by type," says Hardie, pointing to deals, both corporate and sovereign, through Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.