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

Vanguard
US-based asset manager Vanguard, which manages $10.5 trillion in assets, has launched the Vanguard Global Core Bond Fund and the Vanguard Global Strategic Bond Fund. These funds join Vanguard’s active fixed income funds, the Vanguard Global Credit Bond Fund and the Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond Fund, as Vanguard expands its fixed income offering.

The Vanguard Global Core Bond Fund and Vanguard Global Strategic Bond Fund are domiciled in Ireland and will be co-managed by Ales Koutny, head of international rates, and Sarang Kulkarni, lead portfolio manager for Vanguard’s Global Credit and pan-European corporate strategies.

Both funds offer exposure to global bond markets, the firm said in a statement. The Vanguard Global Core Bond Fund will predominantly hold high-quality debt from issuers in developed markets. Both funds will have the ability to invest in high yield and emerging market bonds, with The Vanguard Global Strategic Bond Fund having more flexibility to invest in these asset types. The Vanguard Global Strategic Bond Fund is therefore aimed at investors seeking additional returns, the firm added.

“Higher interest rates and ageing populations are fuelling client demand for bonds; at the same time the fixed income market remains opaque and expensive. We will continue to build out our active and index fixed income offering in the UK and Europe,” Jon Cleborne, head of Vanguard for Europe, said.

IBOSS Asset Management
IBOSS Asset Management, part of Kingswood Group, has launched its new Blended MPS — a portfolio solution designed to meet growing advisor and client demand.

The blended range combines the strengths of IBOSS’s core and passive MPS solutions into a near 50/50 hybrid allocation of the two strategies, combining the cost-efficiency of passive funds with the flexibility and responsiveness of active fund management, the firm said in a statement. Across the portfolios, managed by the IBOSS investment team, active fund exposure ranges from 43 per cent to 58 per cent, ensuring that clients benefit from a high proportion of active fund exposure.

With total costs averaging 30 per cent lower than the core MPS, the blended range is designed to help advisors reach more clients, offering high-quality active management at a more accessible price point – particularly relevant in today’s market, where volatility and structural change require more than passive exposure, the firm added.

“Market conditions have changed significantly in recent years. The era of ultra-low interest rates and momentum-led markets has given way to a much more nuanced environment – one that demands active input, but also careful cost control. We’ve created the Blended MPS to reflect exactly that. It offers advisors a middle ground: a well-diversified, cost-effective solution that retains the active oversight clients increasingly need in a fast-moving world,” Chris Metcalfe, CIO and managing director at IBOSS, said.

Designed for advisors who value simplicity and flexibility, the Blended MPS includes nine risk-rated portfolios, using the same strategic asset allocation and research process as the IBOSS Core range. Portfolios typically hold 40 to 50 funds, and the company’s core philosophy – true diversification, risk-adjusted returns, and active oversight – remains at the heart of this latest innovation.

Janus Henderson Investors 
Janus Henderson Investors has launched the Janus Henderson Tabula US Transformational Growth Equity UCITS ETF (JTXX).

The fund is managed by Nick Schommer and Brian Recht, two portfolio managers that have worked together for over 10 years, supported by a sector-based central research team.

JTXX invests in an actively managed, high-conviction portfolio of primarily US companies benefiting from durable trends transforming society, including AI, deglobalisation, healthcare innovation, digitisation, and migration to the cloud. In constructing the portfolio, the managers aim to identify companies with long-term compounding growth characteristics, more disruptive “blue sky” opportunities or underappreciated companies going through life cycle changes. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) will typically hold 20 to 25 stocks, generally avoiding the very largest companies.

The portfolio managers use a bottom-up approach and select stocks based on a deep fundamental assessment of their competitive advantage. In a market where average holding times have fallen sharply, the team focus on future earnings power rather than short-term volatility.

This is the latest addition to Janus Henderson’s active ETF proposition for non-US investors, and the firm’s seventh overall following a series of strategic launches aimed at addressing client needs. The fund is listed on the London Stock Exchange with ticker JTXX and is available in all major European markets.