George Gatch, the chief executive of JP Morgan Asset Management’s global funds management business, said he believes there is strong market opportunity for JP Morgan's global funds in the Australian wholesale market.
“We have a strong presence across the Asia Pacific region and this launch will extend our comprehensive investment capabilities to Australian investors, while underscoring our commitment to the Australian market,” he said.
JP Morgan head of Australia funds David Hallifax said the launch of the JP Morgan Global Strategic Bond Fund and the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund is in response to “growing demand for unconstrained fixed income and global equities investments”.
The two funds will also provide access to JP Morgan’s global expertise and insights, said Mr Hallifax.
The JP Morgan Global Strategic Bond Fund is an unconstrained strategy focused on the global fixed income and currency markets.
Unlike many traditional fixed income funds that aim to outperform a benchmark, Mr Hallifax said the JP Morgan Global Strategic Bond Fund is agnostic to its benchmark.
“This means that we have greater flexibility to implement our most compelling trade ideas without being tied to any country, sector or duration target, and allows us to focus on such opportunities across the market cycle,” he said.
The JP Morgan Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund aims to outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets Index with a “concentrated, high conviction, value-orientated portfolio strategy”.
“With valuations of emerging market equities trading around the 1.5 price-to-book multiple, this has traditionally been a good entry point for investors,” said Mr Hallifax.
“We believe that adding exposure to emerging market equities at current valuations will benefit investors in the long term.”
