In this new role, Emma will be responsible for the generation, structuring and completion of new ideas across Aviva Investors’ multi-asset portfolios, with a particular focus on its Multi-Strategy (AIMS) range.  Emma will maximise collaboration across investment teams by co-ordinating key areas of focus for discussion at the Multi-Strategy team’s weekly investment meetings as well as the firm-wide Strategic Investment Group forum.

Emma joins from Fulcrum Asset Management, where she was Head of Portfolio Management, responsible for the consistent application of investment process across over $4.5 billion of absolute return strategies. Prior to this, she spent four years in the Global Fixed Income team at Schroders.

Peter Fitzgerald, CIO, Multi-asset and Macro, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Emma to the team and look forward to benefiting from her experience as we continue to focus on strong idea generation to drive performance across our portfolios.

“Her appointment follows the changes we made to our investment platform last year, establishing a combined Multi-asset and Macro function and materially increasing our equity capabilities. We believe we are now starting to see the benefit of the improved idea generation that has resulted from this across the portfolios.”

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Brett Jackson

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’) yesterday announced that its Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Return Fund (AIMS TRF) and Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Income Fund (AIMS TIF) have received “RECOMMENDED” ratings by leading research house Zenith Investment Partners (‘Zenith’).

In addition, LONSEC has also issued an “INVESTMENT GRADE” rating for the AIMS TIF, which is in addition to the “RECOMMENDED” rating for the AIMS TRF which LONSEC gave in July last year.

AIMS TRF and AIMS TIF were launched in the Australian market in July 2015 and July 2016 respectively. The Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy funds globally now manage on a currency equivalent basis approximately $AUD15.5 billion (as at 30 Dec 2016) since first being launched in Europe in July of 2014.

Zenith highlighted in their “Recommended” rating reports that Aviva Investors has created an integrated investment platform, which promotes collaboration and ensures that the best investment ideas from across the firm are represented in the funds’ portfolios, without diluting a focused portfolio management team’s ability effectively to manage the funds. It also stated that the classification of risk-reducing strategies is considered a positive aspect of the investment process as it anchors the portfolio management team to the diversification and capital preservation philosophy of the funds, and this focused approach to incorporating risk-reducing strategies is not common across the peer group.

Brett Jackson, Head of Business Development – Australasia, Aviva Investors commented: “We are delighted to have both our AIMS Target Return and AIMS Target Income funds recommended by LONSEC and Zenith Investment Partners. The recognition by retail and institutional consultants of our investment team and our risk management framework serves as a great endorsement of our investment proposition.

“We now have over $320m invested in the two Australian unit trusts (AIMS TRF and AIMS TIF) and late last year we also had one Australian client invest over $120m directly into the AIMS TRF, so we are delighted with the support we are getting here from Australian investors.”

Peter Fitzgerald, Head of Multi-Assets at Aviva Investors and co-manager of the fund, added: “2016 was a much harder investment environment, but for us several of our “House Views” played out in the market, such as our belief that some of the major economies would experience a reflationary environment. On the back of this, our funds and many multi-strategy funds that share the philosophy that our CEO Euan Munro has championed for the last decade witnessed strong performance in the last quarter of 2016.

Multi-Strategy Funds remained in focus in 2016 as the investment consultants and many of their clients continued to look to further diversify their investment portfolios. These types of strategies can help deliver their members a smoother return experience through not only improved diversification but also active management. We are big advocates of outcome based investing and this continues to resonate with many investors both in Australia and globally”

Brett Jackson, Head of Business Development – Australasia, Aviva Investors concluded: “It is now generally acknowledged that we have entered an environment with more uncertainty and where investment returns across all asset classes are expected to be lower compared to the last ten years. Due to this most of the leading investment consultants and their large institutional clients are reviewing their investment strategies. Some are now explicitly making large allocations to Multi-Asset or Multi-Strategy Funds to help ensure they deliver sustainable long-term returns for their members which is very encouraging.

“Going into 2017 we are confident our AIMS funds are well positioned to cope with the continuing uncertainty in the world and in the markets. Specifically, in Australia we expect the recently launched AIMS TIF to gain more interest as the large superannuation schemes look for more products that can generate regular income for the increasing number of their older members that now need to draw on their superannuation savings. The AIMS TIF is well poised given it is one of the few multi-strategy funds that are well rated by the institutional and retail researchers which delivers income via regular monthly distributions.”

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Euan Munro

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (Aviva), has launched a second fund in the Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy (AIMS) range in Australia: the AIMS Target Income Fund (ARSN 612 806 498).

The fund is available for Australian institutional investors, and retail investors through platform providers.

The AIMS Target Income Fund:

• Targets annual income of 4% above the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate before taxes and charges.
• Seeks to preserve capital
• Manages volatility to a target of less than half the volatility of global equities over any three-year period.
• Pays income on a monthly basis.

The fund is managed by Peter Fitzgerald, Ian Pizer, Nick Samouilhan and Brendan Walsh. They are supported by dedicated risk analysis and investment strategy teams. Chief Executive Euan Munro chairs the Strategic Investment Group, a company-wide forum that provides the fund’s managers with investment ideas.

The AIMS Target Return Fund (ARSN 605 042 288) in Australia was launched to the Australian market in July 2015. The AIMS Target Return Strategy has raised approximately AUD 8.5 billion globally (as at 10 June 2016) since the strategy was launched in July 2014, with good support from institutional clients and retail platforms.

Brett Jackson, Head of Business Development, Australasia, said “The launch of the AIMS Target Income Fund comes at an opportune time for the Australian market, which has been characterised by low inflation, low growth and low interest rates. From our initial conversations, clients and prospects have responded well to the fund’s innovative construction and sophisticated approach to delivering sustainable and diversified income streams, especially during times of heightened market stress. Having two funds successfully registered in Australia marks a major milestone for Aviva Investors globally and reaffirms our commitment to this market as we enter a new phase of growth.”

Brendan Walsh, Co-Fund Manager, added “Our philosophy is that fund construction is as important as generating investment ideas. Clients want their money to work hard and be protected in all market conditions and the strategies in the AIMS Target Income Fund are designed to perform whatever is happening in markets.”

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