UBAM - Strategic Income’s objective is to generate a high level of income coupled with a strong BB-rating risk profile. The fund aims at returning 7% per annum over the investment cycle, by allocating to the high-income segments of the global credit markets including high-yield bonds, subordinated corporate and financial debt, and securitised credit like collateralised loan obligations (CLOs).

The lead manager on the new strategy is Philippe Gräub, supported by Thibault Colle and Bernard McGrath, portfolio managers within UBP’s Global and Absolute Return Fixed Income team. Comprised of 14 investment professionals, this team manages more than USD 13 billion worth of assets globally. The Strategic Income solution utilises all the existing expertise within the team so that each segment of the fixed income market is covered by one or more investment experts. For the portfolio allocation, relative-value analysis is performed on an ongoing basis to decide the weight of each segment and the selection of individual issues is based on thorough fundamental analysis.

Nicolas Faller, co-CEO of Asset Management at UBP, said: “This new fund represents another valuable building block to complement UBP’s Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income range. Supported by the current macroeconomic backdrop, this solution intends to seize the opportunities recently created across the asset class while meeting our clients’ growing demand for innovative high-income solutions”.

Philippe Gräub, Head of UBP’s Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income team, added: “Over a long investment horizon, BB-rated bonds have delivered materially higher returns than BBB bonds, despite displaying similar volatility. We believe this is due to technical rather than fundamental factors. We are convinced that investing in this area of credit markets and diversifying broadly across segments, sectors and issuers can deliver high income to investors.”

The fund is currently available to investors in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.