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

RBC BlueBay Asset Management
RBC BlueBay Asset Management, which represents RBC Global Asset Management outside North America, has launched of its BlueBay Investment Grade Japan Bond Fund. The fund aims to capitalise on a significant inflection point as Japanese pension funds are expected to reallocate from foreign bond investments back to domestic JPY bonds following the normalisation of Japanese interest rates.

The new long-only yen-denominated fund will target returns of about 100 basis points above its benchmark, the Nomura Bond Performance index (NOMURA-BPI Total) and will be managed by the BlueBay fixed income platform’s chief investment officer, Mark Dowding and portfolio manager, Neil Mehta operating from the London office. To support the fund's product positioning, Wataru Aso will be relocating from RBC BlueBay's Tokyo office to join the London-based team, the firm said in a statement.

The fund will primarily invest in Japanese government bonds and domestic corporate credit, including Samurai notes, using the BlueBay Fixed Income team's established credit expertise to deliver alpha in Japan's evolving fixed income market.

"Five years ago, you couldn't really deliver alpha in Japanese fixed income. Now there's abundant opportunity for those active managers with deep local market expertise who can navigate the expected volatility and dispersion as the Bank of Japan continues to retreat from the market,” Dowding said.

Having marked the 20th anniversary of its presence in Japan last year, the new fund represents a deepening of RBC BlueBay's geographic footprint in the market, building on its expertise in active asset management for institutional and wholesale investors.