Macquarie joins $1 billion club with enhanced interest fund

The Macquarie Enhanced Fixed Interest Fund has broken the $1 billion mark for funds under management for the first time, after taking in more than $550 million in the 12 months to December 2002.

The milestone takes the total funds managed by Macquarie in the enhanced fixed interest style to more than $2 billion, highlighting the growing interest in the style, according to the group.

“We’ve certainly seen a surge in interest in this style of investing,”Macquarie Funds Managementportfolio manager Dean Stewart says.

The fund aims to outperform the UBS Warburg Australian Composite Bond Index, but its enhanced passive approach allows it to only take on “very little additional risk” compared to traditional passive fixed interest funds, Stewart says.

“Since its launch in 1998, the fund has consistently delivered at the top of the target range,” he says.

“We do this by taking small, smart and consistent risks, which minimises any volatility in the fund.”

In passing the $1 billion milestone, the fund has reached the scale of a number of Macquarie’s other pooled fixed interest funds, including the Australian Fixed Interest Fund ($1.3 billion), the Macquarie Treasury Fund ($1.5 billion) and the Diversified Treasury Fund ($1.2 billion).

Retail investors can access the fund through the Macquarie Master Enhanced Fixed Interest Fund, available through wrap accounts and master trusts.

Macquarie head of fixed interest Wayne Fitzgibbon says the flow of funds into enhanced fixed interest, as well as active fixed interest funds, will continue throughout 2003.

“While active management has not seen the same popularity in recent years, there is certainly a role for both,” Fitzgibbon says.