Robeco has launched the Sustainable Asian Bonds fund, a sustainable development goal (SDG)-aligned bond strategy investing in diversified Asia fixed income. The exposure is predominately in companies that are contributing to the United Nations SDGs, while seeking to provide long-term capital growth and generating income yield.

The strategy follows an active approach with the flexibility to take off-benchmark positions, according to the Dutch asset manager.

The fund invests in quality, hard-currency Asian corporate and sovereign bonds and targets a dividend yield of 4-6% per year throughout the cycle. The fund aims to outperform the JP Morgan Asia Credit Index.

Sustainable Asian Bonds is part of Robeco global strategies, that are managed using its proprietary SDG framework, with a total AUM of EUR 10bn ($10.5bn)

Thu Ha Chow, who was recently appointed head of fixed income Asia, is the fund’s lead portfolio manager. Reinout Schapers, who is responsible for the global credit funds and sustainable emerging credit strategy, is the fund’s co-portfolio manager.

“The Asian fixed income market has a crucial role to play in financing the transition to a sustainable future,” said Chow, in a statement.

Robeco expanded its Singapore office to six investment professionals and has plans for additional hires later this year, taking the total number of investment professionals in Asia, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, to 25.