BOSTON — Investors are still pouring money into bonds. And the decline in the stock market this month certainly won't stem their flight to safer investments.

Yet those willing to accept a bit more risk in the bond market are finding that they are being appropriately rewarded. Emerging-market bond mutual funds are among the top performers so far this year.

And over the last 10 years, they have posted an average annualized return of nearly 12 percent. That's more than double the return of the Standard & Poor's 500 index, as well as a broad index of the U.S. bond market.

These funds buy bonds issued by governments and companies in a group of about 20 fast-growing nations including Brazil, Russia, India and China. Investors can choose from a dozen mutual funds whose 10-year returns eclipse that of the JPMorgan Emerging Market bond index.

The brighter outlook in developing nations is a key reason why emerging markets bond funds have posted an average return of nearly 8 percent this year.