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An unexpected opportunity from the developing world
Learn how T. Rowe Price became an early investor in a bond designed to help children in underserved countries.
- The Children and Youth Bond is designed to direct capital toward projects supporting children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- T. Rowe Price chose to be a primary investor, validating the bond's goals and innovative structure.
- Our independent thinking and disciplined approach led us to an investment designed to benefit both clients and society.
Over the course of my investing career, I've learned that it helps to stay curious because opportunities often come from unexpected places.
In 2025, I became aware of an innovative bond focused on improving the lives of children in the developing world.
The Development Bank CAF plan to issue a new Children and Youth Bond designed to direct capital towards education, healthcare and other social projects within Latin America and the Caribbean.
The bond was a bit untraditional, but I saw potential and wondered how T. Rowe Price might get involved.
I started by asking questions.
What kind of returns might our clients expect from this bond?
What kind of positive impact might this bond deliver?
I put our fixed income teams to work following our discipline structured process.
They analyzed the bond from every angle, debating the pros and cons and relying on the full strength of our research platform.
We learned that the Children and Youth Bond was the first ever bond structure to align with UNICEF's child-lens investing framework.
It represented an innovative structure while at the same time addressing persistent underinvestment in children.
Digging deeper, we learned that the United Nations reports more than 115 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean live in poverty and that every dollar invested in early childhood can generate between US $4 and US $16 in additional economic benefits.
To me, this bond demonstrated how debt markets can be used to deliver durable value to both clients and society.
So T. Rowe Price chose to be a primary investor.
This allowed us to get favorable terms for our clients while also validating the bond's unique structure and objectives.
Other investors may have overlooked this opportunity, but at T. Rowe Price, we are encouraged to follow our rigorous curiosity, to think independently and to challenge consensus to find sound investment opportunities for our clients.
Now we see this child lens bond as a template for future transactions to be adopted across public debt markets, serving to crowd in more capital towards these critical developmental objectives.
T. Rowe Price has reaffirmed its commitment to asking better questions to seek better outcomes for clients and society.
With an average of 22 years’ experience, our fixed income professionals are dedicated to helping you achieve your investment goals across market cycles
Arif Husain is the head of Global Fixed Income and chief investment officer of the Fixed Income Division. He is chairman of the Fixed Income Steering Committee and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Arif is lead portfolio manager for the Global Government Bond High Quality Strategy and the Global Government Bond Ex-Japan Strategy. He is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price International Ltd.
Samy Muaddi is the head of Emerging Markets in the Fixed Income Division. He is the portfolio manager of the Emerging Markets Bond Strategy and co-manages the Global High Income Bond Strategy. Samy also manages a range of customized separately managed accounts in emerging market debt and is a member of the Fixed Income Steering Committee and Asset Allocation Committee. He previously managed the firm’s Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Strategy from 2015 to 2024 and the firm’s Asia Credit Bond Strategy from its inception until 2020. Samy also is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and T. Rowe Price International Ltd.
Matt Lawton is head of Impact Fixed Income and a portfolio manager in the Fixed Income Division. He manages the Global Impact Credit Strategy, the Global Impact Short Duration Bond Strategy and co-manages the Emerging Markets Blue Economy Bond Strategy. He also is a member of the ESG Committee. Matt is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
Kenneth Orchard is head of International Fixed Income. He is portfolio manager for the Global Multi-Sector Bond and Diversified Income Bond Strategies and co-portfolio manager for the International Bond and Global Aggregate Bond Strategies. Kenneth is a member of the Fixed Income Steering Committee and the European and UK Asset Allocation Committees. He is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price International Ltd.