Pictet launches global sovereign bond fund

Pictet Asset Management has launched its second fixed income fund in quick succession with the announcement of the Pictet Global Bonds Fundamental fund.

The launch of the Luxembourg-domiciled fund comes one week after the firm unveiled the Pictet Short Term High Yield, which will be managed by former Threadneedle man Roman Gaiser.

The new fund will focus on sovereign debt and will invest in both developed and emerging market bond. It will be managed by Mickael Benhaim, co-head of the firm’s global and regional bonds, who currently manages 10 fixed income portfolios on behalf of Pictet.

This includes two sovereign bond portfolios, the Pictet World Government Bonds and the PS II-World Government Bonds funds.

The new global bond fund was conceived as an alternative to existing bond strategies, which Pictet said suffer from structural flaws due to traditional, market-cap weighted fixed income benchmarks.

Instead of flooding to the biggest borrower of debt, the new fund will focus on the sustainability of the debt burden. This is as well as having a diverse exposure to currency, allowing it to capitalise on rapid economic and capital market expansion.

Sébastien Eisinger, head of fixed income at Pictet AM, said: ‘As an alternative or as a substitute to traditional investing, investors should start by analysing the fundamentals.’

‘Only then will they be able to reduce the risks and maximise the opportunities that are emerging in this period of rapid change for the world economy.’