Harbour Asset Management Launches Core Fixed Interest Fund

News Release 23 May 2011

Harbour Asset Management Launches Core Fixed Interest Fund

Harbour Asset Management (Harbour) today announced the launch of the new Harbour NZ Core Fixed Interest Fund (Fund).

The Fund is an investment grade bond strategy that invests predominantly in New Zealand government and corporate fixed interest securities, with a high proportion of liquid securities and access to hedging instruments to enable active risk management.

Christian Hawkesby, Head of Fixed Income, said, “There is significant change occurring in NZ fixed income investing. In what was meant to be a safe asset class, retail and institutional investors have suffered losses in recent years, particularly through the collapse of finance companies and CDOs. Many investors were unaware of the inherent risk in these securities, while high-quality securities performance well. The regulatory environment is rightly being strengthened, to ensure greater emphasis is placed on sound research and investing with due care and expertise.

“The new Harbour NZ Core Fixed Interest Fund is part of that process. Learning from domestic and international experience, we are incorporating more scope to manage risks and take opportunities, helping to safely navigate both movements in interest rates and credit spreads. We believe that this will provide investors access, through a PIE structure, to expected returns greater than government bonds over the medium term with potentially less variability of returns.”

The Harbour NZ Core Fixed Interest Fund has a cornerstone first investor and will be available to both institutional investors and retail investors through financial advisors.

In January 2011, Harbour established a fixed interest team led by Christian Hawkesby, working alongside Mark Brown, Director, Fixed Income Portfolio Management. The team also manages the Harbour NZ Corporate Bond Fund.

Mark Brown has a strong investment track record and a deep understanding of the local wholesale fixed income market, with over 16 years fixed experience leading the investment team that evolved at National Mutual, AXA, and Alliance Bernstein. Christian Hawkesby was formerly the Head of Market Intelligence at the Bank of England, before returning to New Zealand.

In just under 18 months, Harbour has built a very well-resourced professional asset management operation with over $800 million under management in NZ fixed interest and Australasian equities, across a broad range of clients, including Crown entities, listed and unlisted major companies, multi-nationals, charitable trusts and KiwiSaver providers.

ENDS

© Scoop Media