The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) is inviting tenders for an active global high yield bond fund.
NEST said the mandate would be added to the existing ‘building block’ funds which underpin its default NEST Retirement Date Funds and some of its alternative fund choices, but would not be offered as a stand-alone fund choice.
The scheme said offering high yield would help diversify its members’ pots in the currently low yielding fixed income environment.
It added the manager it seeks must have “a high quality repeatable investment process and a robust risk management framework and considers environmental, social and governance factors”.
NEST chief investment officer Mark Fawcett (pictured) said: “High yield bonds can offer attractive returns in an otherwise low yielding fixed income environment. Procuring a high yield bond fund will also further diversify our members’ portfolios. By including this asset class in our building block mandates we will be joining the growing number of institutional investors holding high yield.”
