Pictet launches infrastructure dividend fund

Pictet Funds is to launch the Pictet High Dividend Selection fund, following on from the launch of a similar product in Japan in 2005.

The fund will be run by a team of four managers under Hans Peter Portner, head of Pictet's sector and theme fund group. It will concentrate on companies involved in public infrastructure, which typically provide dividend income streams healthier than that of the overall markets. Pictet says: "An analysis of data for the past 15 years reveals that around half of total return in equities comes from dividends. Therefore, a high dividend yield significantly lowers the overall volatility of the total return." Portner says: "Owing to high barriers of entry, firms operating in the public ...