Titan is launching two new fixed income funds as it aims to grow in the adviser and wealth management market.
The funds will be run by the company’s head of fixed income, Peter Doherty and operate with the Titan Investment Solutions division of the company. Doherty aims to manage a total of £5bn across those two funds and the Titan Hybrid Capital fund he already runs.
Advisers and wealth managers within the Titan group have provided the first £50mn of assets for the Titan Core Credit bond fund, a product which will invest primarily in invest grade corporate bonds.
The second fund being launched, the Titan Short Duration Investment Grade Income fund, has had the first £20mn of capital provided by advisers and wealth managers within the wider Titan Group.
Doherty aims to manage a total of £5bn across those two funds and the Titan Hybrid Capital fund he already runs.
The latter fund aims to provide a return of 0.5 per cent above the Bank of England base rate, with the return primarily achieved via collecting the coupon, or income, generated from bond investments, rather than from selling the bonds for a capital gain.
The maximum duration of this portfolio will be 1.5 years, and investors in the fund will receive a quarterly income payment.
The Titan Core Credit fund will also invest in the subordinated debt. A subordinate bond is one which is further back in the queue to be repaid than is a senior secured bond, and as a result has a higher yield.
Titan Wealth has been on an expansion spree in recent years, acquiring among other entities, Cardale Asset Management in Harrogate, which runs direct equity portfolios for clients, and Square Mile, a london-based discretionary portfolio manager.
The intention is for Doherty to be ultimately responsible for around 15 per cent of the total assets run by Titan across all of the client areas, either within the bond fund portfolios he runs, or via allocating to external bond funds on behalf of Titan clients.
Doherty joined Titan Wealth in 2023, and brought with him a Hybrid Capital fund which he had run at his previous employer, this fund is currently £232mn in size and is presently ranked second in the IA Strategic Bond fund sector over the past five years.
Doherty said he tends to differentiate his approach by focusing much less on macroeconomics than other fixed income managers, instead paying attention to the technical aspects of the bond market.
The new funds have total charges of 0.3 per and 0.4 per cent respectively.
Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview, said he welcomes the launch of funds that are less focused on macroeconomics and interest rates.
He said: “Most of the big strategic bond funds have been positioned for a recession that hasn’t come, so this fund is differentiate in that way. But I do think the fees could be a bit lower.”
