Loomis Sayles has launched the Loomis Sayles Senior Floating Rate and Fixed Income Fund, aimed at navigating changing economic cycles by taking a flexible approach to investing in bank loans and other credit instruments.
Although the fund invests primarily in floating rate bank loans, it can also invest up to 35% of its portfolio in the entire range of fixed income asset classes, depending on the outlook for the credit cycle. This is based on both macro and bottom-up investment analysis. Additionally, bank loan securities have a priority claim on assets ahead of bondholders and have historically had lower default rates and lower volatility than higher-yielding issues.
“This fund expands the fixed income options available to investors,” said Jae Park, chief investment officer of fixed income at Loomis Sayles. “This product is designed to offer floating rate bank loan investors exposure to co-portfolio managers Kevin Perry and John Bell’s bank loan expertise, with the added idea-generating capabilities of Loomis Sayles’ credit research and its top-down macroeconomic team.”
In a joint statement, Perry and Bell said: “The market turbulence of recent years convinced us that floating rate loan funds needed to have more flexibility to both help manage downside volatility and to take greater advantage of upside potential.”
