Neuberger Berman launches European High Yield Bond Fund

Viola Caon
30 June 2014

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Neuberger Berman has launched the Neuberger Berman European High Yield Bond Fund, a subfund of its Irish‐domiciled Ucits fund umbrella, Neuberger Berman Investment Funds plc.

The fund aims to capitalise on opportunities presented by the deep and growing European corporate debt market by focusing on large and liquid companies with stable to improving cash flows, and access to capital while avoiding those securities that are more distressed or have a higher default potential in line with the firm’s US High Yield offering, the company said.

The fund features large and liquid BB and B rated issuers, with opportunistic use of BBB and CCC credit tiers. The holdings are diversified across an average of 20 to 25 industries and 75 to 100 issuers.

The lead fund manager, Andrew Wilmont (pictued), joined the firm in April 2014 to develop Neuberger Berman’s European High Yield capabilities. The Fund will be co-managed by Martin Rotheram and Dan Doyle.

The managers are supported by the Neuberger Berman non-investment grade fixed income organisation of nearly 40 money managers, research analysts and associates globally, and is part of a larger fixed income team managing more than $100bn across investment and non-investment grade credit.

The team utilises a disciplined and repeatable process designed to capitalise on opportunity and mitigate risk, Neuberger Berman said.

Andrew Wilmont said: “The European corporate market remains healthy and new issuers will continue to come forward as a result of the disintermediation of European banks. With an expanding investable universe, a large, dedicated, global credit research team such as the one at Neuberger Berman is essential to finding opportunities for our clients.”

Dik van Lomwel, head of Neuberger Berman for EMEA and Latin America said: “Clients have been allocating capital to our US high yield, senior bank loans and private debt strategies and we see this launch as a further evolution of our fixed income platform, particularly as the European high yield market continues to deepen.”