Aviva Investors has launched the new Aviva Short Duration Global Credit fund, seeded with $230m from its in-house multi-asset team. It is the fourth fixed income strategy the asset manager has brought to market this year, following Global Hybrid Bond, Senior ABS Income and Global Unconstrained Credit funds.
The new fund will be run by senior portfolio manager Justine Vroman, who has previously managed short-duration bond strategies at Aviva. She has worked at the firm for more than five years, having previously worked at Pictet Asset Management. The strategy combines an investment-grade core with flexibility to allocate across government bonds, asset-backed securities, high-yield bonds and emerging market debt.
It has been designed to help investors access the income potential available in global credit markets while maintaining a disciplined approach to risk, according to Fraser Lundie, global head of fixed income at Aviva Investors.
"A global, actively managed approach to short duration credit can offer investors a practical way to put lower-risk fixed income allocations to work more efficiently," he said.
"By making use of specialist expertise across global credit markets and maintaining the flexibility to allocate across a wide opportunity set, the strategy seeks to identify attractive risk-adjusted opportunities while helping investors build more resilient fixed income portfolios."
The fund draws on Aviva Investors' fixed income "matrix pods", a structure the firm uses to share credit ideas and macro views across its wider fixed income team.