Aegon Asset Management has launched the Aegon Global Sustainable Sovereign Bond strategy.

Aegon says the fund will invest in investment grade government bonds (BBB- and higher), focusing on countries leading or improving in sustainability metrics with portfolio allocation typically 70-90% to developed markets and 10-30% to emerging markets. All investments will be hard currency bonds, with returns hedged to the euro.

Benchmarked against the ICE BofA Global Government Index, the strategy will be run by co-managers Irina Kurochkina and Jesus Martinez with support from Sarvjeev Sidhu and Hendrik Tuch.

As part of the launch, Aegon AM has partnered with the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), an independent organisation focused on driving positive change in the finance community to deliver more private sector capital into the UN’s SDGs. GEFI is based in Scotland but has global reach and is committed to growing the sustainable finance ecosystem through advisory and research projects, strategic campaigns, events and practical products.

Brunno Maradei, head of responsible investing at Aegon Asset Management says: “Incorporating sustainability alignment into a sovereign bond investment strategy can help mitigate risk, contribute to sustainable growth and pursue competitive long-term performance. Leveraging our proprietary research methodology and multi-decade expertise as active owners of sovereign debt, we are pleased to launch a fixed income strategy that not only has a strong focus on sustainability, but a commitment to delivering attractive returns.”