Aviva considers worth of launching triumvirate of absolute return funds

Aviva Investors may launch up to three absolute return funds this year, with expertise already on board for convertible bond arbitrage, European equities and credit products.

Paul Moody, Aviva Investors’ client investment development director, says none will be launched until the firm is comfortable the strategies work using paper portfolios and internal money, and they can be handled operationally, too. He says: “We could launch absolute return funds across most assets classes we already have desks for. “What people are looking for at the moment is a real rate of return above cash and protection from downside risk.” Aviva Investors’ first launch could be an absolute return variant of its four-year-old convertible bond arbitrage portfolio. Moody says...