Calgary-based Mawer Investment Management Ltd. launched Mawer Global Bond Fund on Monday.
The fund’s goal is to provide diversification across many currencies, countries and yield curves as well as provide unhedged currency positions that have historically offered a low correlation to equities. The fund also aims to build and increase resiliency by investing solely in investment-grade government and government-related bonds.
James Redpath and Michael Crofts, fixed-income portfolio managers who have a combined total of 26 years of investment experience, are co-managing Mawer Global Bond Fund.
“The bottom line is diversification and resilience,” says Redpath, lead portfolio manager. “Think of it as the ‘Central Bank of Mawer’ because an emphasis is placed on high-quality bonds denominated in reserve currencies that tend to hold their store of value in periods of uncertainty.”
Studies determine that global bonds account for approximately 75% of the global investible market, which is worth more than US$200 trillion, yet the Canadian bond market accounts for only a small fraction of that, states the firm’s announcement on the fund.
“Often, Canadians suffer from home country bias and are reluctant to look beyond the domestic bond market,” the Mawer statement says. “But without global bond exposure, Canadian investors could be missing some good opportunities.”