Those relying on income from investments such as term deposits and savings accounts are faced with increasing bills for energy and fuel and may be in less of a position to afford a holiday or to assist with a grandchild’s education.  Such a situation may see them casting around for a more acceptable return – and protection against inflation.
 
Bendigo Wealth was launched in April 2011 and brought several parts of the business together under the one umbrella – including Sandhurst Trustees which was founded 125 years ago this year. 
 
To celebrate our second birthday, Bendigo Wealth is launching the Sandhurst Strategic Income Fund (Income Fund) to add to the growing range of products and services – particularly managed funds and superannuation – that have been winning recognition and critical acclaim. 

The Income Fund joins other product launches since Bendigo Wealth’s inauguration, namely, Bendigo SmartStart Super® and the Bendigo managed wholesale fund product suite (comprising 10 managed funds).
 
Alexandra Tullio, Head of Wealth Markets said: “Bendigo Wealth is increasingly recognised for our funds management capability, particularly by independent financial advisers. Over-the-counter enquiries in the short time since the official launch have also been on the rise.
 
“We recognise that there are many Bendigo customers especially those approaching or already in retirement with existing term deposits who are looking for regular income and good returns.  They’re looking for that happy medium with an experienced funds manager.
 
“Understandably, these customers are risk averse. They’re not considering bonds, and term deposit returns are lower than they’d like – but they’re not yet ready to venture back into the equities market either. 
 
 “We’ve used our years of wealth management experience to build the Income Fund as a stepping stone between investment classes such as bonds, term deposits and equities. We’re saying that the Income Fund is well qualified to be in that sweet spot as a customer’s first and perhaps logical alternative to a term deposit”,  Ms Tullio concluded
 
Paul Rohan, Head of Sandhurst Trustees added “Sandhurst’s income fund is a low risk investment with quarterly income distributions. But unlike a term deposit funds can be accessed weekly without penalty and there’s no need for rollovers. Best of all in the 12 months to April 2013, the Sandhurst Income Fund (Class A units) returned 6.49%* net of fees and costs – and that’s higher than most term deposits over the same period.
 
“To those investors who may not have considered Bendigo for our wealth management capability, we’re saying perhaps you should come and have a look at our product range. A particular feather in our cap is that we were one of just a handful of Australian fund managers who didn’t freeze redemptions in our mortgage funds during the GFC”, Mr Rohan concluded.

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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.

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