Nedgroup Investments has launched a Global Strategic Bond fund for fixed income veterans Alex Ralph and David Roberts.
The active fund will focus on interest rate and credit risk, building a core global bond portfolio that emphasises liquidity. The managers will take a value-orientated approach but avoid lower-quality bonds, as they are illiquid.
It will aim to outperform the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Total Return Index (US$ hedged) over rolling three-year periods. The fund’s base currency is the dollar, but it has hedged share classes in sterling and euro.
Between them, Ralph and Roberts have more than 50 years of experience in the asset management industry. Ralph previously launched and managed the £1.8bn Artemis Strategic Bond fund during her 15 years at the firm while Roberts spent 14 years as head of fixed income at Aegon Asset Management (formerly Kames Capital) and was head of global bonds at Liontrust Asset Management.
Ralph said: “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, emerging and subordinated debt as investors will need to broaden their risk approach in this new regime.”
Roberts added: “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.”