Acadian Asset Management has launched two new credit strategies, in response to growing investor demand.
The global systematic investment specialist has expanded its suite of credit solutions with two new strategies: Global High Yield and US Investment Grade. They both aim to provide strong, diversifying active returns based on fundamental and technical investment ideas.
Systematic credit strategies seek to deliver such returns by harvesting mispricings in overlooked parts of the corporate bond market.
The offerings are managed by the firm’s US-based credit team, which is led by Scott Richardson, senior vice president and director of systematic credit at Acadian. The double launch joins Acadian’s US High Yield strategy that was launched in November 2023.
Commenting on the need for strategic allocation to credit, Richardson explained: “Research shows that investors are well-served to have an allocation to government bonds, corporate bonds and equities, rather than focusing on one asset class or a duo of asset classes.”
In particular, the senior vice president highlighted transparency and implementation efficiency as two key advantages of Acadian’s new offerings.
“Systematic approaches can more easily provide transparency on portfolio composition and performance, as well as capitalise on the fragmented corporate bond trading environment. At Acadian, we view both as high priorities that are worthy of significant resourcing.
“On the trading side, we find the largest implementation benefits come from the ability to process vast amounts of trading data and react in real-time to short-term market opportunities.”
Gillian Savage, Acadian Australia chief executive, observed the growing demand for credit strategies, particularly among institutional investors, amid higher rates.
“Acadian has a long and successful track record of managing systematic equities strategies, and the team’s philosophy of taking a structured, data-driven approach to credit is a natural fit for our investment platform,” she said.
Beyond Acadian’s three existing credit strategies, it also offers benchmark-aware investment solutions across the developed market corporate bond universe, covering over 20,000 securities.
In December 2023, the asset manager appointed Kelly Young as its chief executive based in Boston. Young first joined Acadian in 2009 as a relationship manager and went on to hold several roles, including director of international client group and chief marketing officer.
She took over the CEO role from Ross Dowd, who held the chief position since 2018.
