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

M&G Investments
M&G Investments has just launched the UK-domiciled M&G Global Corporate Bond Fund, to capitalise on rising UK investor demand for large-scale bond diversification.

The firm highlighted how fixed income allocations are back in favour, offering good yield opportunities relative to other asset classes, as high interest rates and inflation continue to drive heightened volatility across the asset class. Other wealth managers have also drawn attention to this opportunity. See more commentary here and here. 

“After more than 10 years of strong performance for our European clients, we are pleased to bring this fund to the UK market,” Alex Matcham, head of UK wholesale, said in a statement.

It has been launched with £164 million ($207 million) of external investment and is now available to UK investors seeking to diversify their fixed income allocations to maximise greater potential for returns outside of the UK market. 

The fund will be managed by Ben Lord with Mario Eisenegger as co-manager, supported by a team of in-house credit analysts across the UK, Asia, Europe and the US, the firm continued.

“In our view, we could see big opportunities for bond investors in 2024. With a wall of cash waiting to re-enter the market after last year’s high interest rates and continued inflation concerns sparking further interest rate reductions, a boom in the US bond markets looks likely,” Jim Leaviss, M&G’s CIO of fixed income, said.

“If the Federal Reserve cuts rates as early as March, this could trigger falling bond yields and lock in significant gains for early investors,” he added.

At least 80 per cent of the fund is deployed in investment grade bonds issues by companies across the globe, denominated in any currency, spread across issuers, industries and countries.

iCapital
New York-headquartered iCapital, a fintech platform for alternative investments, has announced that its portfolio construction tool, Architect, is available on iCapital Marketplace. 

Following the launch, more than 350,000 US financial advisors will gain access to Architect to evaluate alternative and structured investments alongside traditional assets.

Architect’s analytics and visualisations allow advisors to weigh up the effect of adding alternatives – such as private equity, private credit, hedge funds, private real estate funds – and structured investments, to an existing portfolio that includes traditional investments, including equity, fixed income, ETFs, and mutual funds. 

The launch follows a six-month beta phase of testing involving more than 300 wealth managers.

At the same time, iCapital has unveiled a strategic relationship with Morningstar. Once that pact is completed, more than 170,000 advisors will be able to subscribe to Architect through Morningstar Advisor WorkstationSM.