Mason Stevens has launched a retail Australian fixed income separately managed account (SMA) as it has seen a growing interest from advisers to have direct access to bonds.
The company said that its new solution would offer retail investors an opportunity to hold a portfolio of fixed income securities retail sized parcels, while professionally managed and serviced through administration technology, which would be available for investors with a minimum of $100,000.
The SMA would be managed by Mason Steven’s investment team investing the capital in a portfolio of Australian denominated investment grade bonds, subordinated debt securities, hybrids, asset backed securities, residential mortgages backed securities, floating rate notes and inflation-linked bonds.
Additionally, the company prepared a whitepaper to assist advisers in building goal based portfolios and manage asset allocation, and which would look at the difference between investment and financial objectives and how various investment structures could fulfil these objectives.
Mason Stevens’ managing director, Thomas Bignill, said that the low return environment had led more advisers to look at allocating to fixed income, in particular to look after the needs of pre-retirees and retirees.
“The strategy is ideal for SMSF trustees, who, based on ATO statistics, tend to have high concentration risk to equities,” he said.
“By investing in high quality short-to-medium term bonds, fixed income can potentially facilitate the preservation of wealth. Fixed income is about delivering consistency of income that resonates with the end client.
“Now they have the opportunity to further understand how it works through the transparency that a separately managed account brings,” Bignill said.
