Developing countries expanded 5 percent last year, more than 3.5 times the pace of growth in advanced economies, according to the International Monetary Fund. Emerging Asian economies grew by 6.8 percent. In 1998, developed markets grew 2.3 percent versus 1.9 percent for emerging nations across the world.

Investors in the U.S. allocate just 1.7 percent of their portfolios to emerging-market debt, Steven Nicholls, head of Aberdeen Asset Management Plc’s fixed-income product specialist team said at a briefing in Hong Kong earlier this month.

Asia is predicted to grow 6.4 percent this year, even as China endures its longest streak of sub-8 percent growth in at least two decades, according to economist forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a 1.1 percent expansion expected for G-10 currency economies.

Yield Premium

“Our approach is to have views on the global macroeconomic context, regional macroeconomic context and national macroeconomic context, and within that to identify credits in sectors likely to do well,” said Toloui. “They need to have strong corporate governance, a strong business model and compensate you for the set of risks you’re taking.”

Dollar debt from Asian companies rated BBB yields an average 4.27 percent, 62 basis points less than international notes sold by Latin American corporates, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. U.S. currency notes from Chinese companies yield 5.83 percent, the data show.

Promised Reform

China’s Communist Party leadership concluded meetings last week to outline social and economic reform. While markets will be “decisive” in allocating resources, the state will continue to be “dominant” in the economy, according to a communique from the sessions.

Pledges listed in a 60-point document published three days after the meeting, known as the third plenum, included establishing market-determined prices for resources and boosting private-sector and foreign investment. The party listed fiscal and tax reform as the fifth out of 16 main points in its document.

Money-market rates and onshore bond yields in the world’s second-largest economy have soared as investors speculate the government will loosen its grip on interest rates. The benchmark seven-day repurchase rate rose to 5.4 percent today, the most since it climbed to a four-month high on Oct. 30. The yield premium on three-year corporate bonds in China surged to an almost 10-month high last week.