AXA launches global credit bond fund

AXA Investment Managers has expanded its range of SmartBeta credit strategies with the launch of a global credit bond fund.

The AXA WF Global SmartBeta Credit Bonds fund will be co-run by Damien Maisonniac and Lionel Pernias, who are both members of the firm's global credit investment team.

This marks the second fund launched for institutional investors under the company’s SmartBeta range, which is designed to offer a more pragmatic approach than existing passive strategies.

Following a ‘buy and maintain’ approach, Maisonniac and Pernias will seek to preserve capital through avoiding defaults and minimising turnover.

It is also aimed at providing investors with global diversification across three broad sectors, five geographical regions and at least 200 individual issuers, while keeping the volatility, turnover and cost down.

Commenting on the launch, the fund's co-manager Maisonniac said: ‘This fund will give investors access to a wider universe of both geographies and credits, at a low cost.’

‘The global scope of the fund truly means we can invest in a credit where it delivers the best value for the investor, free of geographical constraint.’

Paris-based Maisonniac added the fund had been designed specifically for institutional investors seeking low-cost global credit exposure, without the drawbacks of passive issuance-based index tracking strategies.

The existing fund in the SmartBeta credit strategy range is the AXA Sterling SmartBeta Credit Bond fund, which was launched for Pernias and Mark Benstead in October 2012.