AXA Investment Management (AXA IM) has unveiled an actively managed ETF capturing global high yield corporate bonds, ETF Stream can reveal.

The AXA IM Global High Yield Opportunities UCITS ETF (AGYU) is listed on Deutsche Boerse, Borsa Italiana and will be listed on SIX Swiss Exchange “soon” with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.45%.

AGYU is classified as Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

AGYU “focuses” on high yield corporate bonds included in the ICE BofA Developed Markets High Yield index . By excluding emerging markets, the ETF captures around 90% of the global high yield market.

On how the ETF implements active management, Olivier Paquier (pictured), global head of ETF Sales at AXA IM, told ETF Stream: "Our high-yield team at AXA Investment Managers, led by Mike Graham in the US and Boutaina Deixonne’s team leading the Euro high yield space drives the active management process. While not the ETF's portfolio manager, they oversee the main high-yield strategies of the firm.

“The process combines a bottom-up approach with analyst-led risk assessment and research, and a top-down approach where [senior portfolio manager, head of US high yield] Mike Graham and the team align with AXA's house strategy, incorporating ESG considerations from the outset. This results in a model portfolio of 300-450 securities, from 2300 in the index, which is then replicated in the ETF."

In addition, AGYU aims to closely align its portfolio composition and pricing with the benchmark, while differing from the benchmark in terms of weighting.

AXA IM has steadily increased its bond ETF range in H2 this year, launching long and short duration US treasury ETFs and a Paris-Aligned Benchmark (PAB) emerging market debt ETF.