Royal London Asset Management and PortfolioMetrix have launched the RL Global Government Bond fund, targeting the UK, Channel Islands, Irish, German and Swiss jurisdictions with a strategy that can rotate across sovereign bond markets in pursuit of diversification opportunities.
The strategy looks to find alpha through active management amid diverging fiscal and monetary policies alongside higher levels of volatility amid protectionism and geopolitical changes. And with little sign of global macro trends stabilising in the near term, the volatility is likely to persist, the provider firms suggest.
The fund targets stable income with risk control supported by robust macroeconomic and sovereign credit analysis. It invests in bonds in the UK US, Japan, Peripheral Europe, Core and Semi-Core Europe, Canada and Australia. It is benchmarked against the JP Morgan GBI Global Hedged USD index.
Gareth Hill is the senior fund manager and lead manager of the fund, alongside Paul Rayner, head of Alpha Strategy Rates.
The fund builds on the existing £1bn UK based International Government Bond fund, also managed by Gareth Hill and Paul Rayner, but has been created as an offshore fund.
Ed Venner, chief client officer at Royal London Asset Management, commented: “We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with PortfolioMetrix to co-create a solution that will meet the needs of their clients. We anticipate that this new strategy will also benefit other fixed income investors in the UK and internationally, who can invest through our Dublin based fund. The RL Global Government Bond fund combines the benefits of a long-term strategic view, with a tactical overlay to target outperformance over time with reduced volatility. The strategy is built not just to weather uncertainty, but to thrive in it.”
Alex Funk, chief investment officer, UK, at PortfolioMetrix, commented: “By co-designing with Royal London Asset Management, we turned a real portfolio gap into the RL Global Government Bond fund. A fixed income solution that offers global, disciplined sovereign exposure, built on a proven track record that helps our adviser partners deliver consistent, long-term outcomes for clients”
