2025 Outlook | International markets

Our thought leaders in international markets share their 2025 outlooks in their respective product areas. From the role of AI to the proliferation of e-trading, our experts expect 2025 to be a pivotal year for the fixed income market. See what our leaders featured here are forecasting for 2025.

In 2025, questions around inflation, geopolitical uncertainties and monetary policies will weigh on markets. Market participants can expect to see heightened volatility and more complex market dynamics in a poly-crisis-defined society.

I expect the quality and availability of fixed income data to increase in 2025, and its application into investment strategies will be enhanced as we couple it with AI-based products and solutions. We will be able to electronify a larger percentage of the market—making it more transparent, more liquid, and easier to trade—even when volatility is high and traditional liquidity is scarce.

Against this volatile backdrop, the allocation of risk and capital and the resulting impact on the velocity of liquidity will create trading opportunities. Emerging markets economies, a core strength of our trading business, will continue to see investor interest-deflationary trends and stronger economic fundamentals underpin possible GDP growth beyond that of developed markets. Investors will need to focus on selecting the right markets and sectors including index inclusion, effectively managing risks, and allowing for best execution within that market.

Looking ahead, tight valuations, geopolitical tensions, and macro policy shifts signal a potential tug of war for investors between high-quality assets and higher yields. The easy trade is over and 2025 will likely separate winners from losers. For example, within EM, LATAM may attract active investors seeking higher yields, while Asia might remain the “boring” yet stable choice—offering stronger fundamentals and lower volatility.

These dynamics could drive structural changes in how global asset managers are setup as well. Portfolio Managers (PM) with largest AUM are still mostly based in the West but now, with Asia’s growing index weightings, it may become increasingly logical for more PMs to relocate eastward.

As an important piece of the puzzle, our trading platform remains a key enabler for global portfolios—delivering the tools, technological innovations, and data-driven transparency investors need to succeed in any market environment.

The LATAM region is poised for continued growth in 2025, though this trajectory remains contingent on Fed rate decisions and potential policies from the upcoming administration. Despite regional challenges, bright spots in high-yield markets like Argentina and Ecuador, combined with surprising inflows into Mexican assets, suggest more opportunities on the horizon.

LATAM’s technological evolution is notably accelerating, with investors increasingly embracing electronic block trading, AI-driven tools, and advanced data analytics, potentially leapfrogging traditional technology adoption phases. While the LATAM region has historically been slower to adopt technological advancements, the region is showing strong adoption of sophisticated trading technologies like automated trading and order book systems, suggesting a transformative year ahead for market infrastructure and trading capabilities.

I’m personally very excited for what’s to come for our EM franchise in 2025. In 2024, we saw a 20% increase in daily trading volumes across hard and local currency bonds compared to the previous year. We made a lot of improvements and expanded capabilities recently, including adding Portfolio Trading, which will help guide us in the new year as we can offer our clients more efficiency tools than ever before. Our client communities in both APAC and LATAM are more active than ever before, and we believe the proliferation of e-trading in these regions will continue this momentum and growth throughout the year.