17 May 2017
Back to news homeNEST announced today that it has awarded a high yield bond mandate to J.P.Morgan Asset Management to further diversify members’ portfolios and offer attractive returns in an otherwise low-yielding fixed income environment.
This new fund will be added to the building blocks that make up the NEST Retirement Date Funds. An initial allocation will be made of £40million, representing roughly 3 per cent of our total portfolio, which will be reviewed over time.
NEST is acting as seed investor for the J.P.Morgan Life High Yield Opportunities Fund, which has been established by J.P.Morgan Asset Management to meet the needs of NEST’s membership.
Commenting on this appointment, NEST deputy CIO John St. Hill said,
‘With long term interest rates at current low levels we believe that adding high yield bonds to the portfolio will enhance the returns for our members.
‘This is a long term strategic move for us. Diversifying our members’ portfolios across a range of asset classes is the best way to manage risks and deliver returns. Like other large institutional investors we see high yield as an important tool in the box.
‘We were looking for an active manager who could demonstrate ability to understand the detailed business models of companies issuing high yield bonds and give us confidence they’d be able to choose sound companies that are capable of servicing their debt. J.P.Morgan impressed us with their robust approach to risk management and their clear commitment to integrating environmental, social and governance issues into their investment processes.
‘There was strong competition for this mandate and we received a number of high quality bids, so we’re delighted to be working with J.P.Morgan Asset Management to bring members these benefits.’
Bob Cast, Client Adviser at J.P.Morgan Asset Management, said,
‘We are delighted to be working with NEST to provide a new global high yield bond fund as a building block in NEST’s Retirement Date Funds. NEST aims to provide a high quality low cost workplace pension to millions of people and we’re very proud to now be part of this.’