AXA IM picks up Mercer mandate
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has picked up a key mandate, announcing that Mercer's investment business in Australia has allocated $150 million to AXA IM's global investment grade SmartBeta credit strategy.
AXA IM said Mercer's allocation to the SmartBeta credit strategy complemented other managers within their global credit portfolio, enabling Mercer to achieve a cost-efficient and well-diversified global credit exposure without the drawbacks of market capitalisation index tracking strategies.
Commenting on the mandate, AXA IM director of Australia and New Zealand Craig Hurt said local funds were taking notice of intelligent, yet cost-efficient solutions:
"Since bringing our SmartBeta credit and SmartBeta equity strategies to the Australian market we've seen an increasing number of institutional investors look for a more intelligent and pragmatic approach to capture the market return," he said.
The company said its SmartBeta credit strategy took an active approach to defining the investment universe, providing Mercer with a more attractive risk/return profile than that offered by passive index tracking strategies.
From a universe of bond investments determined by a number of rules-based and fundamental filters, AXA IM's diversified portfolio was constructed such that it was not unduly exposed to either systemic or event risk at an issuer, sector or regional level, it said.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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