The four funds – all prefixed with “Nordea 1” – are an Unconstrained Bond, Emerging Markets Small Cap, Chinese Equity and a Corporate Bond fund.
The Unconstrained Bond Fund will be run by US credit fixed income specialist MacKay Shields, and will invest across the credit spectrum, using what is described by the company as a process of dynamic multi-sector asset allocation and active duration management.
The Nordea 1 Emerging Markets Small Cap fund, managed by Boston-based small cap specialist Copper Rock Capital Partners, seeks the higher growth available through small caps, but with valuations often found in emerging market large caps, Nordea said.
The Nordea 1 Chinese Equity and Nordic Corporate Bond funds will both be run by internal teams, the former managed by the international focus equity team and the latter by Nordea’s credit team.
The China portfolio aims to take advantage of that country’s shift towards a more consumer-driven economy, while the corporate bond fund will invest across the risk spectrum, avoiding financials, according to Norea.
Nordea said the fund could exploit the additional premiums available from the Nordic corporate bond market’s many small, and often under-researched, issuers. Hedged back to the euro, the fund should offer diversification from the continental European credit market.
'Extending alpha delivery potential'
Christophe Girondel, global fund distribution at Nordea Asset Management, said the launch of the new funds was aimed at extending the asset manager’s “potential to deliver alpha in various asset classes and market environments”.
The addition of the four funds mean that Nordea now has 67 investment products in its Nordea 1 Sicav, more than half of which have more than €100m under management, Girondel added.
Nordea, which is a dominant market player in the Nordic countries and Baltic Sea region, claims to be the largest financial services group in Northern Europe, with a market capitalisation of approximately €36bn, total assets of €626bn and a core Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.4%. It is also said to be the No. 1 provider of life and pensions products in the Nordic countries.
