MIRABAUD LAUNCHES GLOBAL EQUITY HIGH INCOME FUND

Mirabaud Asset Management Limited launches Global Equity High Income Fund. The fund was launched with assets in excess of US$25m following a six-month incubation period; the fund will be a sub fund of the Mirabaud Luxembourg Sicav.

The fund will be managed by Kirill Pyshkin who joined Mirabaud earlier this year from Aviva Investors where he was a senior fund manager, global equities, in charge of the flagship retail equity fund in the Irish market – Aviva Ireland High Yield Equity – and all other active global equity funds with assets under management of more than £1bn.

The Mirabaud Global Equity High Income Fund aims to deliver attractive and growing income from dividends, at least 25% higher than that available on the broad equity market and growing above inflation, with potential for capital appreciation. Pyshkin intends to achieve this in a well-diversified, high-conviction, concentrated global equities portfolio, with overall lower level of risk and volatility than the broad all-countries equity index (MSCI AC World).

Pyshkin said: “Our investment philosophy is that of value investors with focus on income; so we buy companies with higher than average and sustainably growing dividends that are attractively valued. However, we focus on companies that fall under our castle, moat and goldmine (CMG) definition – that is, companies that are financially strong, well-managed and operating in attractive industries with defendable business models.

“Given our long term investment horizon and concentrated nature of our portfolio we always aim to meet the company management prior to buying it for the fund to better understand the strategy, operating environment and attitude to shareholders. Strict sell discipline utilises price targets that are reviewed regularly by dedicated analysts.”

The fund will be co-managed by Anu Narula, the head of the global equity team, who joined last year from Axa Framlington where he also lead managed the global income fund. The fund managers will be supported by dedicated global equity analysts and will have the wider support of the 24-strong equities team run by London-based equities CIO Philip Watson.

 Mirabaud is committed to developing its range of funds and is building on its competitive advantages to meet the needs of its clients. The launch of the Global Equity High Income Fund is part of this strategy. Mirabaud significantly expanded its asset management team in London and within the past two years has launched a global emerging markets equity fund (managed by Dan Tubbs who joined from Blackrock), a global high yield and a strategic bond fund (managed by Andrew Lake who joined from Aviva Investors, and Fatima Luis from F&C Asset Management), as well as a European and global convertible bond funds (managed respectively by Renaud Martin who joined from Calyon and Nicolas Crémieux from Dexia Asset Management).

Lionel Aeschlimann, Partner and Head of Asset Management at Mirabaud, said: “Managed by a fund manager of the calibre of Kirill Pyshkin, this fund will make a very strong addition to Mirabaud’s UK based asset management offerings. We are confident that he will generate excellent long-term results for our clients. We are also very excited about entering the Irish market where Kirill is already well known and respected through his excellent stewardship of the High Yield Equity fund.”

The Global Equity High Income fund will be managed with a clear, consistent and transparent investment process driven by active management with bottom-up security selection. Mirabaud’s unique investment process blends proprietary screening with fundamental analysis incorporating thematic exposure as appropriate.