S&P Capital IQ and Paris-based asset manager La Française AM have joined forces to launch a new credit vehicle which they call a “pure global investment grade credit fund”, WealthBriefing can exclusively reveal.

The LFP R2P Global Credit fund is part of a Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV (LFP S&P Capital IQ Fund) and is the first phase of a partnership between the two firms which was announced in June.

The new fund will have significant exposure to the US corporate bond market, with at least 90 per cent of its holdings being investment grade debt and a maximum of 10 per cent high yield. The vehicle, which is hedged against exchange rate risk, is intended to outperform the Barclays Global Aggregate Corporate Hedged € Index (or $ index).

The new venture is an attempt to draw together La Française AM’s experience with fixed income management and S&P Capital IQ’s credit analysis capabilities, Patrick Rivière, managing director of La Française AM, said in a statement.

While portfolio construction and execution is ultimately the responsibility of La Française AM, both partners will contribute to various stages of the investment process, such as macroeconomic analysis, issuer scrutiny and qualitative analysis, the statement continued. Among S&P Capital IQ’s specific contributions will be its proprietary Risk-to-Price analytical methodology, which scores bonds on a relative basis by evaluating each instrument's individual risk versus reward profile.

La Française AM has €36 billion ($47 billion) in assets under management.