The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

BNY Mellon Investment Management    
BNY Mellon Investment Management has recently launched the BNY Mellon Floating Rate Credit Fund.

The fund is managed by Insight Investment, a £630 billion ($782 billion) global asset manager with £187 billion under management in fixed income assets, the firm said in a statement. It invests primarily in floating rate debt and is designed to provide income while also protecting against interest rate volatility by maintaining low interest rate duration. It meets the requirements of Article 8 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation and is part of the Ireland-domiciled BNY Mellon Global Funds range. It will be registered for sale in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK, the firm added. 

As floating rate credit has a lower sensitivity to interest rate changes versus fixed rate debt instruments, it is an asset class which can potentially provide investors with an attractive risk and return profile of loan-like returns and lower capital volatility in a rising rate environment, the firm continued. In addition, a focus on floating rate debt can offer opportunities in the current climate where yields are higher at shorter maturities, because it creates scope for harvesting a higher yield on the front end.

The fund aims to generate a total return of income and capital growth through investing in a global portfolio of floating rate debt and debt-related securities and related FDI. It will measure its performance against the three-month EURIBOR which is the Euro Interbank Offer Rate.

The management team, which is led by senior portfolio manager Ulrich Gerhard alongside portfolio managers Cathy Braganza and Lorraine Specketer, also manages the BNY Mellon Global Short-Dated High Yield Fund. “We favour sectors that we view as offering attractive asset valuations which operate in stable competitive environments and have high barriers to entry. Our emphasis is on issuers which we believe to have a strong business model, appropriate capital structure and resilient cashflows, implying a clear path to repayment and reduced risk of defaults,” Gerhard said.

Astanor Ventures
Astanor Ventures, a global specialist in agrifood tech impact investing, has closed its second venture fund at €360 million ($383 million).

This latest closing tops Astanor’s existing funds and special purpose vehicles, together amounting to about €800 million assets under management, the firm said in a statement. It proves that despite fluctuating market trends, the agrifood tech and bioeconomy sectors remain captivating for investors and ripe for innovation, especially with the focus on the climate crisis and an increased demand for sustainable options.

Building upon the success of its first venture fund, Astanor said it remains committed to its core investment strategy of supporting early-stage and mission-driven companies that have identified a social or environmental issue and have developed a nature positive solution to resolve it.

Over the years, Astanor said it has developed a network of entrepreneurs, experts, scientists, leaders, and policy makers allowing it to identify the innovative technologies that will drive the bioeconomy, with a focus on solutions that foster regenerative agriculture. Astanor has invested in more than 45 promising companies, which align with its objectives and core values of climate transition, nature positivity, resource efficiency, and improving social and health outcomes.

"At Astanor Ventures, we firmly believe that the agrifood sector holds the key to tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and human health," Leslie Kapin, director of Impact at Astanor Ventures, said. 

"Our second fund's successful closure reaffirms our conviction in this vision and our unwavering dedication to catalysing systemic change within the industry. As an impact investor, it is core to our mission to scale our companies with both impact and ESG as both are necessary to achieve sustainable and resilient agrifood and bioeconomy systems,” Kapin added.