The Schroder ISF EURO High Yield Fund, which launched on 14 November, is managed by Konstantin Leidman who is also in charge of the European high yield portion of the Schroder ISF Global High Yield Fund.
Investing a minimum of 70% of the portfolio in bonds rated below investment grade, mainly from European issuers, Schroders said Leidman leverages its “extensive global fixed income resources, working closely with colleagues in the US, Europe and Asia to integrate top-down and bottom-up views from its strong macro and credit research teams”.
The fund aims to provide a return of both capital growth and income through its high yield portfolio which will be made up of Euro denominated bonds and other fixed and floating rate securities issued by corporate issuers, governments, government agencies, and supra-national issuers worldwide.
Explaining the reasoning for the launch, Leidman said the European debt crisis is currently providing “numerous opportunities for active investors in European high yield bonds”.
“This market has grown considerably over the last decade, and we expect this trend to continue with further growth as a result of bank deleveraging and downgrades of countries in peripheral Europe,” said Leidman.
“In the low rate environment there is a strong case for an asset class that provides attractive risk-adjusted returns with a strong income generation component. By combining fundamental bottom-up research of high yield bond issuers with top-down macro analysis, Schroder ISF EURO High Yield allows us to provide our clients with a strong product offering in this growing and increasingly important asset class.”
