Lead managed by Gordon Brown, co-head of global portfolios at Western Asset, the The Legg Mason Western Asset Global Total Return Investment Grade Bond Fund will look for relative value opportunities across global investment grade debt markets and currencies, Legg Mason said.
The Dublin-domiciled UCITS fund has an AMC of 0.75% and a focus on capital preservation. As a result, it will invest solely in investment grade bond markets, the firm said, because these markets have historically suffered much lower defaults than high yield bonds.
The fund has no benchmark and the team will aim to keep the volatility between 4-6%, Legg Mason said, while idea generation will be driven by Western Asset’s Global Investment Strategy Committee, chaired by CIO Ken Leech and will leverage the regional and sector expertise of the group’s 129 investment professionals across its seven global investment offices.
With the looming possibility of a US rate rise currently countered by worries over global growth, Brown said, fixed income markets are at a very interesting juncture. As a result: “A flexible strategy that can exploit opportunities as they emerge could be an attractive addition to investors attempting to manage their fixed income exposure.”
