Schroders, the $446.8 billion global asset manager, has announced the launch of two new U.S. mutual funds as part of its commitment to offer investors a broader set of global solutions.
The Schroder Global Multi-Asset Income Fund (GMAI) is a diversified portfolio that seeks to maximize income and manage volatility by investing directly into both equities and fixed income securities around the globe. GMAI offers investors the potential to fulfill a broad range of goals, risk reduction and income both in and out of retirement.
The Schroder Global Strategic Bond Fund is an actively managed portfolio with the flexibility to invest in the best opportunities throughout the fixed income universe. The Fund offers investors the potential for total return in different market environments—including periods of rising rates.
With the addition of these new funds, Schroders has grown its family to 15 different mutual funds, giving advisors a wider opportunity set to help meet the changing needs of their clients over the long term.
“As a leading global asset manager, we are dedicated to providing solutions to address a variety of needs, and we are always looking for ways to expand our product availability in the U.S.,” said Karl Dasher, CEO of Schroder Investment Management North America Inc. and Co-Head of Fixed Income. “We have been in steady growth mode in the U.S., and we believe these two funds offer a differentiated approach to the growing need for diversified investment income. This brings our stable of income-oriented mutual funds to 7, each with a unique value proposition and role in client portfolios. We are committed to being a partner of choice to advisors and their clients in the provision of income solutions.”
Global Multi-Asset Income
The Global Multi-Asset Income Fund seeks to generate an attractive level of income on a sustainable basis through security selection and dynamic asset allocation, while seeking to deliver capital growth over the medium to longer term. The Fund’s benchmark is unconstrained which enables the team to be flexible in its search for the best risk-adjusted income opportunities across regions, asset classes and sectors. The Fund will be well diversified and invested directly into equity and fixed income securities, while focusing on high quality companies with positive cash flow and strong balance sheets. There is also a strong focus on risk management at both the security and portfolio level, in seeking to minimize the volatility of investor capital.
The Fund’s portfolio managers draw on the expertise of over 100 investment professionals in the Multi-Asset team who manage $91 billion for clients around the world as of March 31, 2014. The Fund is the U.S. version of a substantially similar fund managed by Schroders for non-U.S. investors, which recently marked its two-year anniversary after delivering on its objectives since inception and has $5 billion in assets under management with investors across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East as of June 13, 2014.
The search for income has increased due to lower bond yields, changing demographics and lower global growth prospects. The Fund was created in response to the challenges and aims to help investors who need to draw income from their portfolios but do not want to move into higher risk asset classes. The Schroders’ solution mitigates the risks posed by single-asset-class income funds, which are often highly concentrated and will not necessarily fare well in a rising interest-rate environment.
Global Strategic Bond
The Global Strategic Bond Fund aims to seek out the best opportunities in global bond markets and provide the greatest investment potential. The Fund enables investors to invest tactically and strategically across the whole spectrum of global fixed income sectors, regions, asset classes and FX. We believe this provides a market rich opportunity for alpha generation. It is essentially a multi-sector fixed income product with a twist—and the twist is that the strategy aims to avoid any directional bias to generate a positive return in any market environment over the long term. “That means the product is designed to generate a positive return whether interest rates rise or fall, or whether credit spreads narrow or widen,” said Bob Jolly, Head of Global Macro for Schroders and lead portfolio manager, with more than 30 years of investment experience. “The goal is to build a portfolio that is diversified in terms of alpha sources and investment horizon.”
Bob Jollyand Gareth Isaac, Senior Portfolio Manager, lead a highly experienced portfolio management team backed by Schroders’ integrated and experienced Global Fixed Income Group. The investment team is able to leverage Schroders’ global research capabilities across asset classes and regions. This combination of analysis allows for valuable, in-depth insights, with the added benefit of local market intelligence. “When we say we’re global, we mean that we have an integrated and experienced team with a local presence in countries around the globe. Our members meet daily to discuss developments in world markets,” Mr. Jolly added. The fund uses a substantially similar strategy as a fund which Schroders launched in Europe in September 2004.