The newly launched Loomis Sayles Global Bond Fund aims to combine macro themes and a bottom-up approach to offer diversified opportunities in fixed income with expected sources of excess return in credit, currency, and duration.
It will be actively managed, investing primarily in a broad universe of investment-grade fixed income securities globally and will be hedged to the Australian dollar.
Its investment strategy is designed to replicate the Loomis Sayles Global Aggregate Bond (AUD hedged) composite, which has delivered a net return of 1.06 per cent per annum above its benchmark, the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, since inception in 1998.
“We are delighted that Australian wholesale clients will be able to access our strategy for the first time.
“It has been well-tested to deliver long-term sustainable returns through almost 40 years of market cycles including such extreme events as the dot com boom and bust, the global financial crisis and the COVID pandemic,” said Lynda Schweitzer, portfolio manager and co-head of global fixed income, Loomis Sayles.
She will jointly manage the fund alongside Loomis Sayles co-heads of global fixed income, Scott Service and David Rolley. Combined, the executives have around 114 years of experience.
“We have been working with Australian and global clients for more than 25 years, so we believe we understand their needs as well as how to deliver on these through flexible fixed income solutions,” Schweitzer said.
She explained the investment approach is informed by Loomis Sayles’ global research team, leveraging data to help shape the team’s perspective on global markets.
“Our discipline, diligence, and experience give us the confidence to be opportunistic and aggressive when bond markets are in dislocation, to find great value for our clients,” she said.
According to Louise Watson, country head, Australia and New Zealand at Natixis Investment Managers, Loomis Sayles is “truly one of the global giants of fixed income”.
“We have been working with Lynda, Scott, and David for many years and their strategy is one of the most popular and successful with our institutional clients, so we’re excited to now be able to introduce them to our wholesale clients as well,” Watson said.
She highlighted their long record of delivering fixed income solutions that have met clients’ investment objectives, without taking excessive risk.
Looking ahead, she forecast demand for active managed fixed income solutions to continue to trend upward.
“With interest rates now back to more normal historic levels and fixed income yields looking more attractive, but markets still volatile and the geopolitical landscape uncertain, we have been seeing consistently high demand for actively managed fixed income solutions among our clients and we expect this to continue,” Watson added.
