Here, Stewart Robertson, Senior Economist at Aviva Investors will review key events in 2015 and discuss the outlook for the year ahead.
 
Key themes for the call: 

• US economy and the path for rate rises. Has the Fed left it too late?
• To what extent is the UK beholden to US growth or Eurozone sluggishness? Or can the UK plough its own furrow. 
• What is the impact of slowing Chinese growth? And the outlook for broader Emerging Markets?    

Join Stewart on 11 December at 10:30am which will include a Q&A session at the end.

At the prestigious Irish Pensions Awards Aviva Life & Pensions once again picked up the Innovation Award. This year we won the award for our Aviva Investors Multi Strategies (AIMS) Target Return Fund.

The outcome-oriented investment approach is truly innovative within the Irish market, and encapsulates everything we do from our investment funds to our product design. The AIMS Target Return Fund was launched in the Irish market in October 2014 and continues to attract very strong inflows with €150m from Irish investors to date (Source: Aviva Investors 26 November 2015). The funds aim is to deliver average annual returns of 5 per cent above the European Central Bank base rate (before charges and tax) over any three year period with a target of less than half the volatility of global equities over the same period. 

Since it was launched over a year ago, it has delivered strong returns, with low volatility, low maximum drawdown, low Value at Risk (VaR) and a high Sharpe ratio as you can see from the table below.

AIMS Target Return Fund delivers strong risk adjusted  - 22/10/2014 to 26/11/2015

Source: MoneyMate Longboat Analytics to 27 November 2015. Based on gross fund performance so this excludes the impact of charges and tax.

The Irish Pensions Awards, which are celebrating their 4th year, experienced the highest number of entries on record, making it an even greater achievement to win this year.

Your support in the success of this fund coupled with the recognition by this award is a further demonstration of how we are leading the agenda to deliver new initiatives that will make a difference for financial brokers, customers’ investments and everyone’s experience of Aviva.

Our High Yield Equity Fund has generated consistent top investment performance over medium / long-term versus its high yield peer group. The fund is Ireland’s No.1 Global High Yield Fund year-to-date, one year, three and ten years.  The fund has also outperformed its benchmark, the MSCI World Index Total Return,  by over 100% since we launched it in January 2001 to 26 November 2015 (based on gross fund performance so excludes the impact of charges or tax).

Strong gross performance to 26 November 2015

Source of high yield and MSCI World Index performance: MoneyMate Longboat Analytics to 26 November 2015. Performance quoted gross of fund management charges and tax.

With the Irish economy one of the most vibrant in Europe, the domestic commercial property market is likely to offer attractive pickings for some time to come.

Click here to download the latest article that appeared in the IBA magazine from Irish Property Fund Manager,  Andrew Hook.

Adding value - refurbishing properties
The fund has attracted much interest from prospective tenants in the 25,000 square foot Clanwilliam Court office building located close to Google’s Dublin offices. Aviva Investors recently completed refurbishing the offices to meet current tenant needs, boosting rents from €18 a square foot to €45 a square foot.


Similarly, they expect to lift the rental value of Creation House on Grafton Street, Dublin by refurbishing the retail and office space to a modern specification so we may attract top-quality tenants. Indeed, a well-known high street retailer is likely to be among the initial tenants in the refurbished property.


Recent acquisitions and sales

As part of its strategy to focus on newer buildings, the fund acquired an office block at One Grants Row in central Dublin in September for around €8.5m at a yield of 5.5 per cent. The tenants in the building have short leases and with the current lack of modern office space in the city, we expect strong rental growth from the block in the coming years.

The fund purchased a 31,000 square foot industrial unit at the Fonthill Business Park in Clondalkin for around €5m in January at a yield of around seven per cent. The property was purchased to increase the fund’s exposure to a sector likely to see strong rental growth, while offering attractive long-dated income with a lease of over 11 years. The fund sold an office in Limerick in April for €4m, a third more than the property was valued at, to reduce exposure to weaker regional markets so the fund could add holdings in Dublin.

Digital first is one of our key strategic anchors.  Having a great customer website is an important first step in achieving our goal of digital excellence. You'll notice a number of big improvements in the investment section on www.aviva.ie: 

• Approved appearance: more visually appealing and better reflects Aviva, our products and services.
• Content to support decision making: our site is focused on providing customers with relevant information that helps them understand our proposition and work with you to make good investment decisions.
• Better usability: our site is easier to read, navigate and understand.