What’s new?
The BlackRock Fixed Income Global Opportunities (FIGO) Fund has been launched for UK investors. FIGO invests across all fixed income markets, employing a flexible, unconstrained strategy to invest in multiple geographies, credit ratings and sectors of the global credit market.

They say…
Jeremy Roberts, Head of UK Retail Sales at BlackRock, said “I’m thrilled to bring BlackRock’s flagship unconstrained fixed income fund to the UK. We’ve seen an overwhelming demand for this strategy from clients across Europe as they search for returns which outpace traditional bonds combined with income.
“We know from the BlackRock Investor Pulse Survey that almost 50% of Britons say it is important to earn an income from their investments. But with yields at historically low levels, investors need to be even more proactive about finding this income especially in bond markets. FIGO aims to address this need and seeks out these opportunities around the globe.”

Good news?
The fund is a mirror of a fund that has been available to European investors for some time. That fund was launched in 2007 and has built up a strong track record, beating its peer group over one, three and five years. As the income available on bonds has fallen, investors have increasingly sought out funds with greater flexibility to look across different countries and different types of bond. FIGO has proved itself one of the better ones.

Any caveats?
Even though the fund can look across a variety of sectors and geographies, it should be said that there is relatively little value anywhere in fixed income markets at the moment. If there is a sell-off in bonds – which may happen as interest rates rise – even the flexible funds such as this one may suffer.

Links
http://www.blackrockinternational.com/intermediaries/en-zz/funds-information/overview/bgf-fixed-income-global-opp-a2-usd
Tel: +44 (0)20 7743 3300