Ms Luo will be based in Sydney and will report to John Sorrell, head of credit, and Andre Severino, global head of fixed income. 

Sam Hallinan, managing director of Nikko AM Australia, said Ms Luo’s appointment further enhances Nikko AM’s already strong fixed income offering in the Australian market. 

“Linda brings a strong foundation of experience in the financial services industry having previously worked for NAB as senior associate in the Global Institutional Banking team. 

“Linda will be working with John Sorrell and Leo Leslie in the local credit team, as well as supporting the global credit team across Tokyo, London and Singapore. Her primary focus will be on fundamental credit analysis on the Loan and Investment Grade Debt holdings across Nikko AM’s portfolios.

“The growth of the Australian Fixed Income team reflects the increase in assets under management in their RMBS and LBO strategies as well as the strong performance of their flagship Fund managed by Darren Langer and Chris Rands,” Mr Hallinan said.

Ms Luo has a Bachelor of Economics from The University of NSW. Her appointment was effective 3 June 2019

The appointment follows Lonsec’s move on 21 May 2019 to upgrade the Nikko AM Australian Bond Fund to “Recommended”. The fund primarily invests in Investment Grade Australian dollar securities. 

In its report Lonsec acknowledged its increased conviction in the investment capability and track record of portfolio manager Darren Langer. It said the fund offers investors a conservative Australian fixed interest investment opportunity that is very competitively priced. 

The Fund has delivered a total fund net return* of 4.3% p.a. per cent over the past three years, and 7.83% per cent in the past year, outperforming the typical passive fund** by 0.33% p.a. and 0.19% in the respective periods.

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*Nikko AM Australian Bond Fund total fund net returns are post fees, pre tax using redemption prices and assume reinvestment of distributions. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As at 31 March 2019. **Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index Fund.

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Andre Severino

Nikko Asset Management (“Nikko AM”) has announced the expansion of its global green bond capability to include a wider investment universe of Sovereign, Supranational and Agency (SSA) green bonds.

The Nikko AM Global Green Bond Strategy provides investors access to green bonds through a diversified and actively managed portfolio. The new strategy mandate enables the London-based global fixed income team to invest across a wider universe of predominantly AAA rated SSA-issued green bonds.

Global Head of Fixed Income Andre Severino said, “Nikko AM is a pioneer in the green bond investment space, and the green bond market is experiencing record growth – Moody’s Investors Service projects green bond issuance to grow to between USD175–USD200 billion in 2018, surpassing the 2017 record of USD 155 billion.

The team actively invests in green bonds across both developed and emerging markets, and we believe this best positions us to deliver sustainable alpha for our clients in a fixed income portfolio while also contributing to the preservation of the environment. The investment focus is on sovereign agencies that provide the leading standard of reporting and project selection.”

Nikko AM launched one of the world’s first green bond funds in 2010. The expanded investment universe provides clients greater access to the growing green bond market, in addition to providing capital to a wider array of green projects worldwide. According to Standard & Poor’s, the green bond market was worth USD372 billion at the end of December 2017.

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Roger Bridges, based in Sydney, has been named Global Rates and Currencies Strategist; Andre Severino, based in London, has been named Head of Fixed Income for the U.S. and Europe, and John Vail, currently Chief Global Strategist, will be leading the company’s global investment committee process and thought leadership effort after relocating to New York from Tokyo in November.

“In response to the growing needs of our clients, building out our global investment capability has been a priority for us over the past year,” said Yu-Ming Wang, Global Head of Investment of the Tokyo-based asset manager. “We have brought on highly talented individuals and teams from outside the firm, and now we areappointing some of our most experienced individuals to lead areas that will be increasingly important to us going forward.”

Roger Bridges joined the firm in 1998 and has most recently been responsible for providing macroeconomic research and strategic direction to the Nikko Asset Management Australia fixed income team. In his new role, Roger will be the chief global strategist for interest rates and currencies, working closely with the Global Investment Committee on macro and market target views. He will be the main spokesperson for rates and currencies at the company.

Andre Severino joined Nikko Asset Management in New York in 2007, and most recently has been serving as Acting CIO for Europe. In addition, he is Senior Portfolio Manager of the firm’s multi-billion-dollar sovereign fixed income series.  Andre’s position has been expanded to include heading the firm’s fixed income teams in Europe and the U.S., and he will also join the team managing global macro strategies.

John Vail has been with Nikko Asset Management since 2006, and serves as Chief Global Strategist, in addition to leading the Global Investment Committee and several investment forums within the company. Nikko Asset Management is taking steps to deliver its strategic insights within a single, global thought-leadership solution, and John will lead this effort upon relocating to New York from Tokyo in November.

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