AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has made the 54 funds in its AXA World Funds range more easily accessible to UK retail investors. The funds, which are domiciled in Luxembourg, have been registered for sale in the UK and have gained UK Reporting Fund Status (RFS).
The AXA World Funds range can be accessed through a clean share class, the ‘F’ class, which is RDR compliant: free from commission and rebate payments.
Rob Bailey, Head of UK Wholesale Distribution at AXA IM, said: “We’ve been working hard to make our offshore fund range more easily accessible to UK investors. AXA Investment Managers is a global asset manager offering funds across all asset classes. The 54 funds in our AXA World Funds range demonstrate the strength and depth of our capabilities.”
AXA IM has experienced particular demand from UK investors for a number of the funds in the World Funds range:
AXA WF Global Strategic Bonds: the fund is managed by Nick Hayes who, in this challenging environment, can take a global unconstrained and active approach to search for opportunities across the fixed income spectrum. Importantly this fund distributes returns on a quarterly basis;
AXA WF Emerging Markets Short Duration Bonds: managed by Damien Buchet, invests in short dated bonds in the Emerging Markets. This fund may appeal to investor seeking to benefit from the long-term growth prospects and attractive yield opportunities, but who are wary of uncertainty and volatility in a rising rate environment;
AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds: managed by Jonathan Baltora, with yield enhancement key in a rising rates environment, the fund aims to achieve income and capital growth through investing in the global inflation-linked bonds market;
AXA WF Framlington Global Convertibles: the Fund managed by Marc Basselier, can give equity investors exposure to the equity market upside with potential lower risk; and bond investors can potentially get better returns as many have now come to the conclusion that adding limited equity risk can be a better option than going further down the rating curve.
Rob Bailey continued: “Advisers are increasingly seeking to recommend offshore funds to increase their options for clients and there is an evident trend in more offshore funds being registered for sale in the UK.
“At AXA IM we would like to ensure that it is as easy as possible for advisers to access these funds. I hope that platform providers note this growing trend and consider including more offshore funds in their intermediary offering, to ensure an equal footing in the UK market.”
