JP Morgan has introduced the Active Global Aggregate Bond UCITS fund, an active fixed income ETF which will fall under the umbrella of JP Morgan’s global aggregate bond strategy.
The fund will be measured against the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index Total Return USD Unhedged indexand will operate across 25 local currency markets. JP Morgan said it believes the fund is suited for active management due to the complexity of global aggregate dealings and the chance to steer the ETF towards high quality issuers rather than simply the largest issuer.
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Travis Spence, head of EMEA ETF distribution, said: “Active fixed income ETFs can capitalise on numerous factors that impact bond prices and move markets, including economic and market cycles and central bank actions across both government and corporate securities.
“An active strategy can adjust interest rate exposure and sector allocation through the cycle, enabling investors to own cheaper securities and underweight expensive ones while maintaining a stable bond beta.”
The ETF will be overseen by fund manager Linda Raggi, managing director Myles Bradshaw, and portfolio manager Iain Stealey. Both Stealey and Raggi have spent their careers with JP Morgan, for the past 21 and 15 years respectively. Bradshaw has been in the industry since 1996, working at firms including Amundi and Pimco before making the move to JP Morgan four years ago. A team of over 70 analysts will also support its progress.
J.P. Morgan’s global aggregate bond strategy holds over $11bn in assets as of the end of August and has been part of the company since 2009. Its asset management team now holds 18 fixed income ETFs, half of which are active funds.
“Our Global Aggregate strategy’s time-tested process has delivered strong returns since inception in 2009 while retaining the key features of a core bond portfolio, including low volatility, limited drawdowns and no market bias,” Spence said.
“We’re delighted to be bringing this capability to the ETF wrapper as well as offering clients the industry’s first UCITS active global agg bond ETF.”
