Evli launches Nordic 2023 target maturity fund

Evli, the Finnish manager, has launched a target maturity fund, which runs until the end of 2023 and aims for annual yield of 3% net of fees on a low risk approach.
As its name suggests, the Evli Nordic 2023 Target Maturity Fund is focused on Nordic corporate bonds - an area in which Evli has some two decades of experience - and portfolio managers Jani Kurppa and Juhamatti Pukka will consider investment grade, high yield and unrated paper.
The Nordic corporate bond market comprises some 500 issuers and a market size of some €225bn, or about the same size as the European high yield market, Evli notes. About 54% of issuers and 29% of volume is unrated - making the Nordic region one of the biggest European markets for unrated issuers. Unrated bonds offers some 50-150 bps of additional return compared to officially rated euro corporate bonds at a similar risk level, Evli suggests.
As part of its methodology for investing in both rated and unrated bonds, Evli uses ESG factors in its credit analysis to determine credit quality and the creditworthiness of issuers.
Evli has some €8.1bn of assets under management.