Wellington Management, the Boston-based asset manager, has announced the expansion of its wealth management coverage in Asia with the debut of four funds in Hong Kong.
They are the Wellington US Quality Growth Fund, the Wellington Global Property Income Fund, the Wellington Credit Income Fund and the Wellington Multi-Asset High Income Fund. They were authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission in late May.
These launches also mark Wellington Management’s entry into the Hong Kong retail fund market.
“Hong Kong is integral to our Asia strategy and today’s launch is a natural client-servicing progression and an extension of our business commitment to the market,” said Scott Geary, Wellington’s senior managing director and head of client group for Asia Pacific.
Focused on Asia
The newly-introduced funds are modelled on funds that Wellington first incepted in the US and Europe, noted the firm.
The only growth fund on the list, the Wellington US Quality Growth Fund, aims to seek long-term returns by being actively managed against the S&P 500 index.
It allocates around 35% of its AUM in the information technology sector, followed by 19.0% in healthcare, and 17.5% in financials.
The $1m Wellington Global Property Income Fund is managed by Bradford Stoesser and Xiaobo Ma, with a focus on listed equity securities of companies or Reits.
The fund is benchmarked against the FTSE EPRA Nareit developed dividend+ index, with 63.5% of its AUM allocated to North America, 15.2% to Apac ex Japan, and 9.9% to Europe.
Among the four funds, the Wellington Credit Income Fund is the only product with exposure to fixed income instruments.
The fund describes in its factsheet that it is a high yield credit portfolio while maintaining an investment-grade rating, with 35.3% of its assets in BB bonds, followed by 24.9% in triple A bonds.
Over 57% of its AUM is invested in the US, followed by 20% in Latin America, and 10.7% in Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East.
Last, but not least, the Wellington multi-asset high income fund invests in a broad array of assets including equities, sovereign, corporate and inflation-linked bonds.
The $15.1m fund allocates 41% of its AUM in fixed income, and 14.9% in equities, with an average credit rating of triple B.
Boasting over 100 staff, Wellington Management opened its Hong Kong office in 2003.
The firm is also looking to add more products from its flagship sector, research and thematic offerings, including sustainability and ESG-integrated funds, it added.
