Best Fund Provider Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond
Fidelity International
Best Fund Provider – Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond
Martin Dropkin
head of Asian Fixed Income
“We are honoured to be named Best Fund Provider – Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond at the 2022 APB Asset Management Awards for Excellence. This is an acknowledgement of our established track record and pedigree, as well as testament to the depth and quality of the differentiated strategy we bring to the market. Our fixed income franchise is underpinned by a sound and robust credit selection framework, which is the cornerstone of our decision-making process. We are humbled by this win, and this motivates us to continue delivering value for clients.”
Winnersrationale
The Fidelity Enhanced Reserve Fund benefited from strong inflows from private banking platforms across the region in 2021 as the US asset manager sought to address clients’ requirement for simple, short-dated investment products.
The US$2.5 billion AUM fund, which has about two-thirds of its assets allocated in Asia-Pacific, was able to ride out significant portions of the volatility witnessed in the region’s fixed-income markets in 2021 to provide investors with a positive return.
The Fidelity fund focuses on liquidity management and downside risk management, which has allowed the strategy to deliver stable returns during times of market stress.
While the fund has returned a modest annualised 2.2% since its inception in 2018, it has done so while maintaining high levels of liquidity. Core liquidity levels – a combination of cash and other assets that can be quickly liquidated – are generally maintained at about 20% to 30% of the fund. Duration is kept short to lower interest rate risk, while a diverse portfolio of up to 400 underlying holdings helps to spread risks in the event of a potential default at any issuer.
Positive contributions to performance during the first half of 2021 included positions in selected tourism- and travel-related companies that have received a tailwind from the re-opening of economies from COVID-19 lockdowns. The fund benefited from having the conviction to hold on to bonds issued by China Huarong, whose prices rebounded later in 2021 after it was announced that the troubled Chinese state-owned asset manager would receive a government bail-out.
During the assessment period, the fund was featured in numerous focus fund slots among Fidelity’s private bank distributors in the region, helping to draw hundreds of millions of US dollars in inflows from these platforms.
Fidelity International is Asian Private Banker’s Best Fund Provider – Asia Pacific Investment Grade Bond for 2022.
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