Schroders is still working on suitable ideas for its call-overwriting Income Maximiser range of funds, said the fund manager during a media briefing for the firm's Global Property Income Maximiser launch.
"Thomas [See] is working on some ideas and I would be surprised if this were the last Maximiser," said Robin Stoakley, managing director of Schroders UK Intermediary Business. "UK Maximiser, which was launched five years ago, is now over £800m in size and has proven to be very popular, while the Asian Maximiser was launched six months ago and is already at £100m ... There's clearly demand for this kind of product and we have also noticed that there are very few competitors," he said.
Schroder Global Property Income Maximiser Fund has a target yield of 7%, which will be achieved via a covered call option overlay on an actively managed portfolio of high-yielding global property securities and Reits. "The track record of the global property sector fits well with the Maximiser strategy," said Al Otero, US Reit specialist with US-based global property securities manager European Investors, who will manage the property securities portfolio alongside fund manager Jim Rehlaender. "Property derivatives have sustained dividends, as it is a capital-intensive business, but it also has low correlation with equities and higher volatility, which has a direct effect on the level of options in the portfolio."
Thomas See, Schroders' head of structured fund management, said Schroders will receive a 1% premium for a four-month trade. "It's a trade-off between volatility and high yield, as the higher volatility stocks allow you to raise more premium," he said.
Global Property Income Maximiser Fund will open to investors on 18 February.
Global Property Income Maximiser Fund will be available shortly in Recent Additions (UK). The rest of the Income Maximiser range is available now on the UK database.