John Hancock Funds the latest to launch interest rate hedge

John Hancock Funds LLC today launched an international fixed-income fund to enable investors to hedge against rising interest rates. The Strategic Income Opportunities Fund invests 80% of its assets in foreign currencies and is designed to be more heavily weighted in cross-border currencies than the firm’s Strategic Income Fund, said Keith Hartstein, president and chief executive of the fund unit. “Right now, bond funds are getting a lot of the fund flows but the problem is where we are in the U.S. inflationary cycle,” Mr. Hartstein said. “We see this fund as a smarter way to get income into a portfolio, without exposing the investor to one market or one inflation cycle,” he said. The fund is managed by Daniel Janis III, who also manages the Strategic Income Fund. Hancock is one of a number of fund firms coming out with products to help advisers and investors hedge against rising interest rates, experts said. “You have got to give the fund industry some credit in that they are trying to look forward on this issue,” said Don Phillips, a managing director with Morningstar Inc. “It’s a little different than the days when firms would launch a tech fund in the middle of the tech bubble.”