PineBridge launches Global EM Corporate Bond fund

US-based group PineBridge Investments has launched a Global Emerging Markets Corporate Bond fund into the UK retail market.

Steve Cook, managing director, will run the fund using a top-down investment process which looks to exploit market inefficiencies across Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Ucits III fund is benchmarked against the J.P. Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified index. The group has seeded the fund with $25m at launch.

“With corporate bonds now constituting the majority of outstanding emerging markets external debt, it is important to conduct thorough research and understand the local markets,” says Cook.

The launch continues the firm's expansion of its emerging markets fixed income fund line-up with existing hard and local currency funds, he adds.

The portfolio will sit under the PineBridge Global Funds umbrella, which is a range of products offering multi-asset investment solutions across both developed and emerging markets.

PineBridge Investments is a majority-owned subsidiary of Pacific Century Group (PCG), an Asia-based private investment group.

Previously it was part of the investment advisory and asset management businesses of insurance giant AIG.

The firm has $83bn in assets under management.