FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS
EARN INCOME IN EMERGING MARKETS
JP Morgan Asset Management has announced that it intends to launch the first investment trust that will focus on dividend income from emerging markets. Traditionally, emerging market equities are a good play on growth. However, as markets mature, more and more companies are paying good dividends. The fund’s initial target is a 4 per cent dividend yield. JP Morgan Asset Management is hoping to have a prospectus available by the end of this month, and it plans to launch at the end of July. The fund will be managed by Richard Titherington.
FUND RATINGS ALERT
OBSR, the fund ratings service, suspended the A rating for DWS Invest Diversified Fixed Income Strategy after it was announced that Mark Dowding, the head of fixed income in Europe for DWS, was leaving the company. OBSR says it will review the situation in the coming weeks. The ratings service also announced that the Schroder Asian Income Fund has been awarded an A rating. It argued that the fund has employed a pragmatic and valuation-driven approach, adding that it believes the fund is a “solid proposition” in the Asia sector.
NEW UCITS THREE MACRO FUND
M&G’s new Macro Episode Fund is a Ucits III version of a global macro fund managed by Prudential Life for the last decade, which has returned an average of 12.2 per cent per annum. Not only does the fund adhere to the high regulatory standards demanded by Ucits III, but it also aims to offer investors higher total returns than global equities over the medium to long term but with lower volatility. The minimum investment is £1m. The fund is managed by Dave Fishwick and Eric Lonergan, who use elements from behavioural finance in their investment strategy.