Fund Evaluator:

Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl Overview

Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl (ESFIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Emerging Markets Bond fund. Ashmore launched the fund in 2014.

The investment seeks to maximize total return. The fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in short-term debt instruments of, and derivative instruments related to, Sovereign, Quasi-Sovereign and corporate issuers of Emerging Market Countries denominated exclusively in Hard Currencies (i.e., the U.S. dollar or any currency of a nation in the G-7). It normally seeks to maintain a weighted average portfolio duration of between 1 and 3 years. The fund has no restrictions on individual security duration. It is non-diversified.

About Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl (ESFIX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.40 years: Robin Forrest (2014), Fernando Assad (2016), Cemil Urganci (2023), Xin Xu (2025), Sarit Shah (2025), Mark Coombs (2014). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: JPM CEMBI Broad Diversified 1-3Yr TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has 105 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 65.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has 44.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 45.2% (1.2% domestic bond, 44.0% foreign bond and 1.8% convertible bond). Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has 52.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $27 million in total assets, which is below the $325 million average for the Emerging Markets Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

ESFIX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Emerging Markets Bond category. Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has an expense ratio of 1.31%, which is 29% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 38%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 82% for the Emerging Markets Bond category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl returned 0.2%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Emerging Markets Bond category had an average return of 0.7%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl has a trailing yield of 6.69%, which is above the 5.95% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Dur Instl Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.7%, 1.7 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 4.3% over the past year (grade of F), 9.9% over the past three years (grade of C) and -2.6% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 0.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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