Aviva Investors has launched its new fund, Aviva Investors US Investment Grade Bond Fund, which will invest in primarily US dollar-denominated investment grade corporate bonds from anywhere in the world.
It seeks to earn income and increase capital value while outperforming its benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays US Credit Index, over the long term.
The fund is managed by Joshua Lohmeier, Mike Cho, and George Bailey. The fund’s investment process takes a long-term, active management approach; utilising portfolio construction and risk allocation techniques combined with high conviction investments at both a company and sector level to deliver optimum risk-adjusted returns.
The team will focus on understanding where credit markets are inefficient to construct portfolios, while identifying higher quality US corporate bonds through an assessment of the business strengths and risks associated with the underlying companies. They will also take into account the valuation of the bonds relative to the market and the views of independent risk rating agencies, while taking advantage of short-term opportunities when they arise.
The investment process also includes consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.
Decisions are supported by active engagement with companies, with the intention of positively influencing company behaviour to contribute to competitive returns.
Lohmeier, head of North American Investment Grade Credit and co-manager of the fund, says: “We are delighted to add the US Investment Grade Bond Fund to our fund range. We believe the US investment grade bond market offers compelling opportunities to investors at both the company and sector level, with portfolio construction offering an additional and distinct alpha source.”
TJ Voskamp, director of Client Solutions, UK & Europe, says: “In these unparalleled times, clients are increasingly looking to diversify their portfolios to protect capital and source good income opportunities. Josh and the team have a deep understanding of their market, and we are delighted to offer this compelling asset class to our clients.”
The fund is a Luxembourg domiciled SICAV with USD as base currency.
