New Investment Vehicles From Fidelity, Schroders, and Baillie Gifford

Fidelity International has introduced its UK-domiciled Absolute Return Global Equity Fund, mirroring a successful $1.6 billion Luxembourg-based predecessor. Managed by Matt Jones, Hiten Savani, and Daniel Swift, the fund aims to provide institutional and retail investors with a hedge against market concentration and high valuations. According to Dennis Pellerito, head of the UK & Ireland Asset Management client group, the strategy is designed to mitigate volatility and improve risk-adjusted returns.

Schroders is simultaneously scaling its active ETF platform, which currently holds $4.3 billion in assets. The firm recently listed the Schroder CoCo Financial Credit Active UCITS ETF, managed by Cindy Wang, and the Schroder USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond Active UCITS ETF, led by Julien Houdain. These additions are part of a broader strategy to bring established active investment capabilities into the ETF wrapper.

Elsewhere, Vontobel has launched the Emerging Markets Debt Core fund, an Article 8 SFDR-compliant vehicle focused on benchmark-aligned sovereign debt. Meanwhile, PIMCO is targeting the UK retirement market with its new Retirement Income Models, designed to assist advisors as they shift focus from wealth accumulation to decumulation strategies. Finally, Baillie Gifford has entered the digital space with its Enhanced Yield Fund (BAGEY). This tokenised fund, which targets a 7 per cent yield, utilizes blockchain infrastructure on Ethereum and Solana to provide professional investors with a natively issued, regulated fixed-income product.