BlackRock has expanded its Global Bond Product Suite with the launch of the BlackRock Global Funds (BGF) Global Bond Income Fund (the Fund).
The Fund forms part of the firm’s Multi-Sector Fixed Income platform, which includes aggregate, government, corporate and flexible bond strategies. The Fund aims to deliver an attractive level of current income by investing across global fixed income markets in a diversified and risk-aware fashion and seeks to achieve growth by capturing strong performance across the credit cycle.
The Fund is managed by Rick Rieder (pictured), BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, in addition to BlackRock Senior Fixed Income managers, and leverages the breadth and scale of BlackRock’s USD1.9 trillion global fixed income platform. The managers have the ability to invest across the entire global fixed income universe, including difficult to access asset classes, countries and securities. This includes high yield and investment grade credit, higher quality corporate bonds, securitised assets and emerging market debt.
The flexible positioning of the Fund allows the managers to actively maximise income whilst managing interest rate and credit risk, thereby helping to mitigate losses at times of market stress. Typical duration of the Fund is 2+ years with the broad duration flexibility of 0-10 years to allow for interest rate risk management when necessary.
Rieder says: “In an environment of low interest rates, investors have to work harder in their search for income. Applying a flexible, go any-where approach to fixed income provides investors with access to a wider and more diverse set of investment opportunities. Without the limitations imposed by a traditional broad-market benchmark, the Fund is able to invest across the entire global fixed income opportunity set, including those asset classes, securities and countries that are often hard to reach.”
Michael Gruener, Head of EMEA Retail at BlackRock, says: “Globally, we are witnessing persistent investor demand for income – and demographic shifts suggest this need will only continue to grow. Through its flexible approach to fixed income investing and focus on higher yielding securities, the BGF Global Bond Income Fund helps unlock the income opportunities that we believe investors are looking for.”
