US credit investment firm CIFC Asset Management has launched its first Ucits fund since opening in London last year as it looks to build up its presence in Europe.
The Dublin-domiciled Ucits, which has launched with commitments of over £50m (€57.6m), is called the CIFC Global Floating Rate Credit Fund and will invest in some of the more liquid tranches of collateralised loan obligation (CLO) bonds. At least half of its funds will go into BBB-rated bonds.
At inception the CIFC Global Floating Rate Credit Fund, which is valued daily and has weekly trading, holds around 70% of its assets in CLOs managed in the US and 30% in Europe.
The new fund is being managed by structured credit veteran Jay Huang and is targeting a return of 7-8% a year.
CIFC European managing director Joshua Hughes said: “We believe many European investors, as well as those further afield in Asia, favour or require the liquidity and regulatory oversight that the UCITS regime brings, so we’re pleased to have been able to create the fund within this structure.”
“This fund will enable discretionary wealth managers, funds of funds managers and family offices to access the enhanced returns that the CLO market offers but without the liquidity and diversification challenges that direct investments in CLOs would entail.
The fund is US$ denominated, with hedged currency share classes in sterling, yen and euros. It is also open to US investors.
Founded in 2005, CIFC is a credit manager with over $21bn of assets under management and specialises in US corporate and structured credit strategies.
