Nordea Asset Management has expanded its suite of outcome-oriented solutions with the launch of the Nordea 1 – Flexible Fixed Income Plus Fund.
As the current low yield environment challenges the return potential of high-quality fixed income assets, the fund aims to provide a solution for conservative investors willing to take on limited and controlled risk in a bid to achieve returns more in line with historical fixed income performance.
The strategy invests across all fixed income asset classes, but it also has the flexibility to have a limited exposure to equities of up to 15 per cent. The additional flexibility allows the portfolio manager to slightly increase the fund’s risk/reward profile. Highly liquid, global and unconstrained by nature, the fund manages duration, credit and equity risks flexibly.
The new fund shares the same DNA as Nordea’s flagship strategies, the Nordea 1 – Flexible Fixed Income Fund and Nordea 1 – Stable Return Fund, from a portfolio construction perspective. The investment philosophy of the new fund is identical: a strategic risk balance between return drivers performing well in periods of expansion and others working better in periods of recession – paired with robust tactical models aiming to preserve capital.
The fund is managed by the same portfolio management team behind Nordea’s fixed income solution. The fund taps into Nordea’s multi assets team, with the investment committee headed up by lead portfolio manager Karsten Bierre and Dr Asbjørn Trolle Hansen.
“Drawing upon more than a decade of experience in developing the concept of risk-balanced solutions, Nordea’s multi assets team has built a true alternative to traditional fixed income portfolios. We believe this new product has the potential to appeal to conservative investors who are ready to take some limited and controlled risks to achieve returns in line with what traditional fixed income products used to offer,” says Christophe Girondel (pictured), global head of institutional and wholesale distribution. “With this launch, we now offer a complete set of outcome-oriented solutions targeting investors in the lower-risk spectrum of the investment universe.”
