Janus Henderson launches Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency SICAV

17 February 2023

Janus Henderson Investors is today announcing the launch of the Janus Henderson Horizon Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency Fund. The Fund will aim to deliver consistent risk-adjusted returns by considering the full universe of Emerging Markets hard currency bonds, investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of sovereign, quasi-sovereign, supranational and corporate debt from Emerging Market issuers. The Fund will be benchmarked against the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified Index and will be available as a SICAV aimed at both wholesale and institutional investors in Europe.

The Fund’s investment team comprises long-standing and well-respected portfolio managers Bent Lystbaek, Jacob Nielsen, Thomas Haugaard and Sorin Pirău who joined Janus Henderson in September 2022. This well-established team has been working together on the strategy, which they developed, for almost a decade and their investment process, which remains unchanged, has consistently delivered for clients since its inception in 2013. The team is based in Copenhagen where Janus Henderson recently opened its first office in the Nordics, further strengthening the firm’s footprint in the region.

Jim Cielinski, Global Head of Fixed Income at Janus Henderson said: “Team, culture and collaboration are vital to our success and since joining the firm in September, Bent, Jacob, Thomas and Sorin have proven to be an excellent cultural fit who are completely aligned with our existing collaborative fixed income team. Emerging market debt is a fast-growing segment of the market that many investors look to for higher income and risk-adjusted returns. This key capability complements our overall global fixed income offering and is a critical component of a global fixed income platform that supports single-strategy and multi-sector portfolios. As we move closer to the end of the US hiking cycle, the outlook for emerging markets looks bright and I am delighted that we can offer investors in Europe access to this new product.”

The focus of the strategy is to generate performance via a combination of country allocation and security selection, rather than relying on large thematic or broader global market drivers. The team adopts a unique investment style having developed an analytical framework to assess sovereign risk systematically in the entire investment universe. The country allocation framework provides a quantitative and qualitative foundation to assess sovereign risk which serves as the starting point when identifying investment opportunities at the country level. This is followed by a bottom-up security selection that historically has been a stable and strong performance contributor. ESG considerations are also core to the team’s fundamental analysis.

The Fund has been designed to conform with Article 8 of Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

Thomas Haugaard, Portfolio Manager on the Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency team said: “The strong support setup at Janus Henderson enables us in the Emerging Markets Debt team to really focus on core investment activities and our passion for investing, including extensive travelling to the countries under our coverage; in excess of 25 countries a year. We are delighted to be able to offer our expertise to clients and the launch of this product means that it is even more accessible to a broader range of investors.”

Ignacio De La Maza, Head of EMEA Intermediary & Latin America said: “I am thrilled that we are expanding the range of fixed income capabilities available to our clients. As a leading global asset manager, Janus Henderson is committed to offering distinctive strategies for today’s complex market environment. The Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency team has a proven track record and the skills to generate solid risk adjusted returns for our clients. The Janus Henderson Horizon Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency Fund is another example of how we are listening and responding to client demand, and we are excited to provide this product to meet their needs.”

Nick Adams, Global Head of Institutional at Janus Henderson, adds: “Since their arrival at Janus Henderson we have seen a number of clients invest with the Emerging Market Debt Hard Currency team on a segregated basis; we are delighted that we are now able to offer the team’s expertise to a wider range of institutional investors.”

Source: Janus Henderson