Sector developments and company hires

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), the Geneva-headquartered private bank, has launched a new fixed-income strategy spanning high-yield bonds, subordinated debt and securitised credit. The fund, named UBAM Strategic Income, will seek a double-B rating risk profile and target an average return of 7% per annum across its lifespan.

UBAM Strategic Income, which will invest in CLOs in addition to other forms of structured credit, will be led by Philippe Gräub, head of UBP’s global and absolute return fixed income team. He will be supported by portfolio managers Thibault Colle and Bernard McGrath.

The firm says it will perform relative-value analysis on an ongoing basis to determine the weighting of each asset class. The fund is currently available to investors across 14 western and northern European jurisdictions, as well as Singapore.

“This new strategy represents another valuable building block to complement UBP’s global and absolute return fixed income range,” says Nicolas Faller, co-ceo of asset management at UBP. “Supported by the current macroeconomic backdrop, it intends to seize the opportunities recently created across the asset class while meeting our clients’ growing demand for innovative high-income solutions.”

UBP currently has CHF140.4bn (US$156.3bn) in assets under management, US$13bn of which is accounted for by the global and absolute return fixed income team.