London-headquartered Aviva Investors is expected to launch the Sustainable Income and Growth Fund in Singapore.
The firm is still waiting for approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, while the product has already been rolled out in the UK this month.
The fund aims to earn income, targeted at 5% annually. It will invest in global equities, bonds, money market instruments and bank deposits.
It also has the option to invest in alternative asset classes, including infrastructure, real estate companies and real estate investment trusts (Reits).
Our sister publication, Fund Selector Asia sought more information from Aviva Investors about Hong Kong plans, but the firm was not able to reply in time for publication.
Bidding on multi-asset
“Companies will be selected on the basis of sustainable business models and underlying revenue streams, with an emphasis on cash flows to deliver compounding interest over time,” said Francois De Bruin, fund manager of Aviva’s product.
“By focusing on assets likely to generate dividends and coupons during draw down, rather than selling shares for income, the fund will help mitigate the risk of permanent loss of capital when markets are depressed.”
The roll-out of the product comes at a time when investors are withdrawing from mixed-asset funds.
Globally, mixed-asset products saw net outflows of around $2.54bn (£2.03bn, €2.26bn), globally, according to data from Morningstar Direct.
Following suit
The trend is also seen in Asia, where sales of mixed-asset products in both Hong Kong and Taiwan have declined.
Nonetheless, other firms have launched mixed-asset funds in the past year, including Fullerton Fund Management, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Capital Group, Nikko Asset Management, UTI Mutual Fund and Lion Global Investors.
Since 2018, around 29 mixed-asset products have been launched in the Lion City.
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