USD20 billion investment group, Nedgroup Investments, has announced the launch of its new Global Strategic Bond fund.
The fund will be co-managed by Alex Ralph and David Roberts, who have over 50 years’ combined industry experience. Alex Ralph spent over 15 years at Artemis, where she set up and managed the GBP1.8 billion Artemis Strategic Bond fund. David Roberts spent 14 years at Aegon Asset Management (formerly Kames Capital) as head of fixed income, and was also formerly head of global bonds at Liontrust Asset Management.
The core, active fund will focus on interest rate and credit risk, within an unlevered core global bond portfolio that emphasises liquidity. The managers will avoid lower-quality bonds which are illiquid.
Alex Ralph, co-manager of the fund, says: “We believe the current market offers the perfect opportunity for bond investors to go back to the core, whereby bonds now constitute the value part of a portfolio. Many leading bond funds have chased growth, but we will restrict equity-like assets such as high yield, EM and subordinated debt as investors will need to broaden their risk approach in this new regime.”
David Roberts, says: “Bond markets can be inefficient and often deviate away from their fair value. Our value-driven philosophy and nimble portfolio management means that investors will benefit from a combination of long-term capital growth and income.”
Tom Caddick, managing director of Nedgroup Investments says: “This fund is a rare proposition in the bond market, as it combines a liquid and unlevered core global bond portfolio with a value-oriented approach to interest rate and credit risk. Alex and David are managers I have known and respected for the last 20 years so it is a thrill to see Nedgroup’s strategy of finding compelling managers, and enabling them to launch their own boutique strategies, take shape.
“For us, it is testament to our long-term investment-led, entrepreneurial approach to finding excellence, and for our investors it means we can offer them increased choice competitive edge, accessing exceptional fund managers that they would not be able to invest with otherwise.”
The strategy of the fund will be to outperform the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Total Return Index (US$ hedged) over a rolling three-year period. Its base currency is USD, but hedged share classes are available in GBP and EUR. Duration is three to eight years and the fund is article 8.
It is currently available on the following platforms:
Hargreaves Lansdown
Interactive Investor
Aviva
Fundment
Quilter
Transact
Wealthtime /Novia
