Eaton Vance product gap may be filled by laddered munis, exchange-traded managed funds

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 14 - Eaton Vance Corp. closed one of its newer products, a global macro absolute return fund, which had been available as a mutual fund and as an offshore fund, to new investors on Oct. 1, 2010, leaving a gap to be filled for other investors, according to chairman and chief executive officer Thomas E. Faust Jr.

Faust reviewed new market opportunities for Eaton Vance and gave a company overview during his presentation at Barclays Capital 2011 Global Financial Services Conference Wednesday in New York.

Half of Eaton Vance's global sales were in the global macro product, said Faust, calling the investment vehicle a "great product for its time."

Eaton Vance introduced a record 12 new products in 2010 and made a commitment to funding the marketing of its products under a single structure, Faust said.

On area of near-term opportunity is managing laddered municipal bond portfolios, an idea Faust introduced during the company's quarterly earnings call last month.

Faust said there is a large base of municipal bond portfolios controlled by financial advisers who lack the confidence to evaluate credits and trade efficiently. Eaton Vance can assume the function of constructing and managing laddered individual portfolios from these individual advisers.

Another opportunity that Eaton Vance is pursuing is the development of the assets acquired in November from Managed ETFs, a developer of intellectual property in the field of exchange-traded funds.

Eaton Vance formed a new subsidiary, Navigate Fund Solutions, to commercialize NAV-based trading and exchange-traded managed funds.

According to Eaton Vance, exchange-traded managed funds bridge the gap between mutual funds and ETFs.

Eaton Vance is a Boston-based investment management firm.

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