First State plans EM bond fund launch

First State is set to launch its first bond fund in the UK following the hire of Helene Williamson last month.

The firm is planning to launch the Global Emerging Markets Bond fund in October for Williamson and her recently formed London-based investment team, as part of a push to expand First State's EM and fixed interest capabilities in the UK market.

Williamson took on the role as head of emerging market debt last week after 15 years at F&C Asset Management.

She will coordinate a team of six, with two specialists from the firm’s global credit team in Hong Kong and four hires in London.

Williamson said the fixed income market was currently dominated by investor worries over the solvency of the US government. She said if this hit treasuries in future, investors would be more motivated to turn to “quality” government bond issuers in emerging markets such as Brazil.

“Markets are already starting to price in the quality of emerging market debt,” she said, adding Western governments across the board are seeing their reputations take a hit as markets fret over their creditworthiness.

First State’s diversification into new product offerings follows its move to soft-close several top-performing Asian and EM equity funds.

Martin Lau’s £624m Greater China Growth fund, along with other four portfolios, will be subject to caps to prevent capacity issues affecting performance and constraining their ability to invest in smaller companies.