Amundi has launched the Article 8-classified Asia Income ESG Bond fund, which will invest across all Asian fixed income market segments with a focus on credit and local rates markets.
The fund will be diversified across corporate and sovereign issuers, targeting high income generation with an "optimised" risk/return profile and employing a "robust" ESG framework.
With an investable universe of more than ten sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers and over 500 corporates across 15 countries, the strategy will invest across local and external debt, using active currency management.
Joevin Teo, head of Asian fixed income at the firm, will manage the strategy alongside Amundi's emerging markets debt team, which currently manages €38.6bn of assets.
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Amundi said a "marked shift" in investment focus from the West to the East will drive further foreign investment flows across the Asian region and higher yield potential than developed markets corporate bonds.
The firm also noted the growth of the green, social and sustainability (GSS) bond market, along with a variety of sustainability-linked, blue and transition bonds (known as GSS+ bonds) in the region, which it said was now responsible for issuing over 50% of emerging markets GSS+ bonds.
"As we navigate this ongoing market regime shift to a higher rate environment, the increased volatility and uneven repricings offer what we believe to be great investment opportunities for active and flexible asset managers like Amundi," said head of EM Yerlan Syzdkov.
"With a growing demand for green and social bonds in the region, the appeal for Asian bonds is strong and we are delighted to offer investors in Europe and Asia access to this maturing and increasingly diversified market."
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In terms of ESG considerations, the fund will aim to mitigate ESG risks and seek to capture a wide range of investment opportunities by maintaining a minimum extra financial analysis coverage of 90%, as well as a minimum allocation to GSS+ bonds.
The investment team will also measure and monitor the portfolio's carbon intensity per euro million of sales and ensure this amount remains below the investment universe average "at all times".
Additional ESG KPIs covering social and governance themes will also be monitored and reported on using the firm's proprietary tool, ALTO Sustainability.
