But the rush into the bonds of higher-risk developing nations shows just how short memories can be in the financial world.

Mongolia, for example, was a darling of the investment community before commodity prices collapsed in 2014 and 2015. Now the country’s bonds are being restructured because the government is short of funds. And it was not that long ago that Greece, even with its towering debt load, was an investor favorite.

Ground zero for this mash-up between finance ministers flogging bonds and yield-starved investors looking to buy them was the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington.

That was where Joyce Chang, J. P. Morgan’s head of global research and a pioneer in emerging market bond investing, was holding the investment bank’s traditional bond jamboree, timed to coincide with the fund’s twice-a-year meetings.

More than any other global investment bank, J. P. Morgan has a special power when it comes to emerging market bonds. Unlike its competitors, it oversees the standard benchmarks for the corporate and government bonds issued by such countries, the most prominent being its Emerging Market Bond Index, which tracks the sovereign bonds issued by more than 60 countries. Investors, especially exchange-traded funds, buy or sell bonds based on whether they are in — or out — of these closely watched indexes.

Harried central bankers and finance ministers rushed in and out of the hotel lobby, trailing entourages of aides and security guards as their black town cars idled by the curb. After the presentations, coifed hedge fund managers — when they were not tackling the buffet of grilled flank steak, chili lime chicken and dainty tarts — converged on them with questions.