The fund will be run by Kumar Palghat and the Janus global macro fixed income team.
This is the second fund launched by the team, and it sits alongside the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund managed by Bill Gross.
The Janus Absolute Return Income Fund aims to generate positive “absolute returns over a full market cycle though high quality and high conviction investments.” The fund focuses on a combination of capital preservation and income generation, while placing an emphasis on risk management and low volatility.
Interest rate mitigation and a low correlation with equity and conventional core strategies are also aims of the managers.
The launch stems from the December 2015 acquisition of Kapstream Capital, an Australian-based unconstrained fixed-income manager with $7.2bn in assets. As part of the acquisition, co-founder of Kapstream and former head of Pimco’s Asia Pacific portfolio management, Palghat, joined Janus and became a co-portfolio manager of the Gross fund.
Palghat will be supported by Kapstream colleagues Nick Maroutsos and Steve Goldman.
Palghat said: “The Janus Absolute Return Income Fund offers investors a highly differentiated approach to traditional fixed income investing. It aims to avoid the limitations of a duration-weighted benchmark and narrow investment guidelines, instead seeking investments from across global fixed income markets. The portfolio will combine a core of investment grade sovereign, corporate and securitised bonds, as well as an overlay of structural opportunities, while taking advantage of long-term mis-pricings.”
