Jeremy Roberts, Head of UK Retail Sales at BlackRock, said: “Finding and receiving income from mainstream sources is becoming increasingly difficult. Traditional bonds are being challenged by the perpetual search for yield, we’re seeing historic lows for interest rates on cash and while equities can produce an income, there is more volatility in a single asset class. This Fund really aims to be the best of both worlds.”
The move, which follows a shareholder vote on December 10 2014, continues a trend toward multi-asset funds seen in 2014, as fund houses increasingly look to position themselves ahead of the forthcoming pension changes.
The UK-domiciled fund will be managed according to the same strategy employed by the group’s global multi-asset fund offering and will be co-managed by Michael Fredericks, Justin Christofel and Peter Wilke and will invest in more than eight asset classes, in over 40 different countries.
According to the group, the fund will target an income of between 4 and 6% per year; the performance target is based on the Luxembourg version having delivered 5.4% since launch. The balanced fund produced a total return of 3.4% over the calendar year 2014, according to the group’s latest factsheet.
The fund has an entry change of 5% and ongoing charges of 1.71%
