JP Morgan Senior Loans started trading this morning. 79m shares were issued at £1 per share. The fund is domiciled in Guernsey and managed by Jim Shanahan and Bill Morgan from J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s High Yield team, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
JPSL will invest in a broadly diversified portfolio of floating-rate debt instruments, at least 80% of which will be senior secured loans. The majority of assets (a minimum of 80%) will be in US or Canadian investments, and the portfolio will be hedged back to sterling. Fees are 0.75% of the lower of net asset value or market capitalisation.
Initially JPSL is targeting a dividend of 5p in its first financial period, paid half-yearly in the first year, with the intention of moving to quarterly dividend payments thereafter. In addition to the yield, there is also the potential for long-term capital growth.