Eaton Vance Management, a subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV), has launched Eaton Vance Currency Income Advantage Fund (Class A: ECIAX, Class I: ECIIX).
The new fund will seek total return by investing at least 80% of net assets in (i) income instruments denominated in foreign currencies and/or issued by foreign entities or sovereign nations, (ii) derivative instruments relating to foreign entities or sovereign nations and (iii) precious metals and commodities-related instruments.
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The Fund expects to normally maintain foreign currency exposures across developed, emerging and frontier markets.
The Fund is the second Eaton Vance-sponsored currency income fund, joining Eaton Vance Diversified Currency Income Fund (Diversified Currency Fund) (Class A: EAIIX, Class C: ECIMX; Class I: EIIMX), which was launched in 2007 and had net assets of approximately $800 million as of July 31, 2013.
Compared to Diversified Currency Fund, the Fund seeks to earn higher income and total returns, with commensurately higher risk.
The Fund is managed by a team led by Eric Stein, CFA, Vice President and Co-Director of Eaton Vance’s Global Income Group, Michael Cirami, CFA, Vice President and Co-Director of Eaton Vance’s Global Income Group and John Baur, Vice President of Eaton Vance and Director of Global Portfolio Analysis.
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By GlobalDataIn allocating the Fund’s assets, the portfolio management team utilizes its time-tested investment process, combining macroeconomic and political analysis of countries to gain exposures to currencies that it believes have the potential to appreciate.
Payson F. Swaffield, CFA, chief income investment officer for Eaton Vance, said: "We believe investments in foreign currencies can provide investors with an attractive income stream and potentially reduce portfolio volatility and hedge against potential U.S. price inflation."
Cirami said: "We employ a macroeconomic and political research process to evaluate the relative attractiveness of countries and currencies. We typically invest in countries where we deem the policy mix and economic environment as being supportive of long-term growth – these are the places we believe will attract capital investment and, thus, experience currency strength."
Stein said: "We believe many investors in the U.S. have little to no active foreign currency exposure within their portfolios, resulting in a nearly 100% allocation to U.S. dollar-denominated assets. Based on their historically low correlation to traditional stock and bond investments, allocating assets to foreign currency instruments can provide meaningful portfolio diversification and potentially lower overall portfolio volatility."
The Fund is managed by Eaton Vance Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp.
Eaton Vance is one of the oldest investment management firms in the United States, with a history dating back to 1924. Eaton Vance and its affiliates managed US$268.8 billion in assets as of July 31, 2013, offering individuals and institutions a broad array of investment strategies and wealth management solutions.
