New harbour for fixed interest investment

Harbour Asset Management has launched its Harbour NZ Core Fixed Interest Fund (Fund).

Monday, May 23rd 2011, 6:54AM

The fund is an investment grade bond strategy that invests predominantly in New Zealand government and corporate fixed interest securities, with a high proportion of liquid securities and access to hedging instruments to enable active risk management.

"There is significant change occurring in NZ fixed income investing. In what was meant to be a safe asset class, retail and institutional investors have suffered losses in recent years, particularly through the collapse of finance companies and CDOs," Harbour head of fixed income Christian Hawkesby says.

"Many investors were unaware of the inherent risk in these securities, while high-quality securities performance well. The regulatory environment is rightly being strengthened, to ensure greater emphasis is placed on sound research and investing with due care and expertise."

He says the new fund takes on the lessons of the past and Harbour is incorporating more scope to manage risks and take opportunities, helping to navigate movements in interest rates and credit spreads.

"We believe that this will provide investors access, through a PIE structure, to expected returns greater than government bonds over the medium term with potentially less variability of returns."

The Harbour NZ Core Fixed Interest Fund has a cornerstone first investor and will be available to both institutional investors and retail investors through financial advisers.

Harbour's fixed interest team is led by Christian Hawkesby, working alongside Mark Brown, Director, Fixed Income Portfolio Management. The team also manages the Harbour NZ Corporate Bond Fund.

Harbour has $800 million under management in New Zealand fixed interest and Australasian equities and its clients include Crown entities, listed and unlisted major companies, multi-nationals, charitable trusts and KiwiSaver providers.

« Fund mangers disappointed with KiwiSaver changes

KiwiSaver mismatch a 'huge challenge' for advisers »

Special Offers