SWIP launches European Income fund

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has launched its European Income fund within its UK OEIC range to meet increasing investor demand for equity income funds.

The fund will seek to take advantage of the increase in dividend payments among European companies.

The SWIP European Income Fund will be managed by Head of European Equities Steven Maxwell and will aim to provide an income in excess of the FTSE Europe ex UK index together with capital growth over the long term by investing in a select portfolio of approximately 30 to 50 stocks. SWIP aims to build on the success of its European equity portfolios which continue to deliver consistently strong performance to clients. The three funds already managed by SWIP in the Europe ex UK IMA sector are currently first quartile over one, three and five years while the SWIP European fund is additionally top percentile over one year with returns of 7.40% against the Europe Excluding UK median of -1.10%.

Steven has been working closely with European Investment Director Catie Wearmouth to establish the European income fund, which SWIP expects to become a key part of its retail offering. SWIP’s team approach to investment research will enable the fund to take advantage of quality research ideas generated across the investment desk. Bottom-up stock picking is absolutely critical and is a core strength of SWIP’s investment teams and the driver of performance in all the portfolios SWIP manages.

Steven Maxwell, Head of European Equities at SWIP comments: “The benefits for investing for income in Europe are clear; a largely untapped market, high and growing yields and the benefits of diversification which can reduce overall portfolio risk. Income investing has, until recently, been very much focused on the UK market but European companies have the potential to offer an attractive and growing income for investors and provide diversification from their UK counterparts. There are now real opportunities to deliver a high and growing yield from companies outside of the UK and particularly those in Europe.”

Tony Maddock, Head of Retail at SWIP comments: “We believe that European income funds will appeal to investors looking for solid yields, diversification and growth with lower volatility. These benefits of income investing are going to become increasingly important for investors concerned about market turbulence. The fund will benefit from SWIP’s bottom-up, research-driven investment process which will ensure that we are able to generate strong stock selection ideas.”

The European Income Fund has a minimum investment of £1,000 and will be available on the main IFA platforms.

Retail investors should contact their IFA to access the fund or visit www.unbiased.co.uk if they do not have an IFA. The application form, Simplified Prospectus and supporting literature can be downloaded from the SWIP website swip.com.