Australia Ratings has assigned its credit rating of ‘A’ to the Class A and Class B units issued by the Sandhurst Strategic Income Fund (“the Fund”).
A rating of ‘A’ represents that the Fund has a high degree of protection against loss from credit risk on the rating scale used by Australia Ratings for fixed income funds. The rating primarily reflects the credit quality of the Fund’s investments as well as the experience and skill of the Funds Management division of Sandhurst Trustees Limited. Sandhurst Strategic Income Fund was launched in July 2011 and is a product of Bendigo Wealth, part of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group.
Australia Ratings analyst Chris Dalton said “the Sandhurst Strategic Income Fund represents a new breed of fixed income fund seeking to deliver an income return above bank bills while protecting the capital value of the units”.
Dalton also said, “Investors in the Fund benefit from a diversified portfolio of term deposits and fixed income securities across a range of maturities with the current portfolio being comprised of investment grade assets.”
The units provide investors with a quarterly distribution of income and a return of principal via a redemption request. Australia Ratings has also assigned its Product Complexity Indicator of ‘BLUE” to the Fund’s units to indicate that an investment in the units represents a relatively straightforward type of fixed interest investment.
