SWIP launches new Strategic Bond Fund

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has launched a new Strategic Bond Fund to the retail market. It aims to capitalise on opportunities across government bonds, investment grade, high yield and cash markets in a sector that is set to continue gaining market share through 2010.

The Strategic Bond Fund will be managed by the combined force of Roger Webb and Luke Hickmore, who jointly have over 45 years experience in the fund management industry. Luke and Roger are backed by SWIP's expert fixed income team with £69bn of assets under management.

The new Strategic Bond Fund has the flexibility to move through fixed income asset classes and search out the best returns without being constrained by a benchmark. It will initially be targeted at discretionary fund managers and progress to have a broad spread across both discretionary and advisory channels.

Tony Maddock, head of wholesale, said: "We know there is appetite amongst investors, and room for this fund within the IMA sector. SWIP has an exceptional fixed income capability and great confidence that we can deliver on the ambitious targets we've set for the fund - top quartile performance in the Strategic Bond Sector."

Luke Hickmore, co-manager of the Strategic Bond Fund said: "With the SWIP Strategic Bond Fund, we have the flexibility to pick the right asset classes, the right sectors and the right way of expressing these views in order to achieve excellent performance. Our experience of using bond market derivatives ensures that we can move swiftly to put risk on in targeted areas or indeed to hedge risk."

Roger Webb, co-manager, continued: "Luke and I are looking to do something with this fund which harnesses all the great bond capability at SWIP. As with the rest of our bond range, we have some really talented investors bringing substantial expertise to this process, helping to give us the confidence to make value enhancing decisions."