T. Rowe adds high income fund to HUB24, BT

T. Rowe Price has added its high conviction Global High Income Fund to the popular HUB24 and BT Panorama investment platforms, the global asset manager has announced.

Darren Hall, T. Rowe Price’s country head and head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand said he was “delighted” to increase the available access options to financial advisers and self-managed investors.

According to the asset manager, the actively managed, concentrated, high-income portfolio is made up primarily of global high yield corporate bonds.

Hall added that the fund generates “equity-like returns with less volatility over the long term.”

“The Fund gives investors access to a truly global opportunity set not often found in other global high yield strategies,” he said.

This includes access to around US$3 trillion (AU$4.58 trillion) of global high yield bonds, with a regional allocation mix that, as of the end of January 2024, includes approximately 51% of issuers in North America, 29% in European markets, and 12% in Latin America.

Hall noted that the fund invests in high yield bonds issued by companies that are “fundamentally improving or where the investment team can identify a clear (but unrealised) catalyst for improvement, or companies that are reducing their leverage”.

“The team scrutinises all potential investments on the basis of qualitative and quantitative company analysis, an industry overview, and ESG considerations,” Hall added.

Since the Australian Unit Trust of the Fund was launched in May 2020, it returned 3.82% per annum net of fees, 10.12% net of fees over the past year, as at the end of February 2024.

The fund is managed by London-based Australian portfolio manager Michael Della Vedova and Baltimore-based portfolio managers Michael Connelly and Sammy Muaddi.

BT is among Australia’s leading platform providers, with more than 350,000 investor accounts; BT’s Panorama platform hosts more than 290 unique managed investment portfolios. Hub24’s SMSF-focused Class platform counts more than 202,000 accounts and hosts around 700 managed portfolios.