Harris Associates L.P. Launches Oakmark Bond Fund

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Dec 16, 2020, 08:52 ET

CHICAGO, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Harris Associates L.P., adviser to the Oakmark Funds and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, announced the launch of the Oakmark Bond Fund. The Fund seeks to maximize both current income and total return by investing in a diversified portfolio of bonds and fixed income securities.

The Bond Fund is the firm's first solely dedicated fixed income product and will serve as an additional way investors can access Oakmark's value investment capabilities.

"This is an exciting opportunity to extend the Oakmark investment philosophy into the fixed income arena," said Co-Portfolio Manager Adam Abbas. "At a time when technical and other non-fundamental factors increasingly influence debt security prices, we aim to provide our investors a vehicle that will capture fundamental opportunities using a long-term, intrinsic value approach to credit investing."

The Fund is designed to be a diversified and opportunistic fixed income offering. The investment strategy will focus on bottom-up, individual security selection and leverage Harris Associates' equity research capabilities across the firm.

"Harris Associates has a long history of successful value investing based on extensive security research. The Oakmark Bond Fund will emphasize bottom-up issuer level research, leveraging the fixed income team and the equity group," said Co-Portfolio Manager Colin Hudson. "In addition to traditional credit fundamentals, the investment framework will rely on incorporating the firm's internally calculated total business value to more accurately price credit risk."

The Oakmark Bond Fund will be managed by Adam Abbas and Colin Hudson. They have a combined 38 years of investment experience and are co-portfolio managers of the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund.

Mr. Abbas joined Harris Associates in 2018 and is the co-head of fixed income. Before starting at Harris Associates, he was a lead portfolio manager at KVK Credit Opportunity Fund LP. Prior to that, Mr. Abbas was a portfolio manager at Driehaus Capital Management, a senior research analyst at Neuberger Berman/Lehman Brothers and an analyst at Huron Consulting Group. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

Mr. Hudson joined Harris Associates in 2005 and is the co-head of fixed income. Before starting at Harris Associates, he was the director of research at Hilliard, Lyons Asset Management. Prior to that, Mr. Hudson was an investment analyst at Wallington Asset Management. He is a graduate of DePauw University and Indiana University.

The Fund is offered through the Advisor Share Class (OAYCX), Institutional Share Class (OANCX) and R6 Share Class (OAZCX). More information about the Oakmark Bond Fund is available at oakmark.com.

ABOUT OAKMARK AND HARRIS ASSOCIATES

The Oakmark Funds are a mutual fund family that utilizes a long-term value investment approach. Oakmark's investment philosophy centers on the belief that superior long-term results can be achieved through investing in companies priced at a significant discount to what Harris Associates believes is a company's intrinsic value, with strong growth prospects and owner-oriented management teams. Oakmark's assets under management totaled approximately $48 billion as of September 30, 2020.

Harris Associates L.P., a Chicago-based investment management firm founded in 1976, serves as the adviser to the Oakmark Funds. Harris Associates also manages U.S., international and global portfolios for institutional and high-net-worth investors worldwide. Including Oakmark, assets under management at Harris Associates totaled approximately $86 billion as of September 30, 2020. More information about Harris Associates is available at harrisassoc.com.

Before investing in any Oakmark Fund, you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, management fees and other expenses. This and other important information is contained in a Fund's prospectus and summary prospectus. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing. For more information, please call 1-800-OAKMARK (625-6275).

ABOUT NATIXIS INVESTMENT MANAGERS

Natixis Investment Managers serves financial professionals with more insightful ways to construct portfolios. Powered by the expertise of more than 20 specialized investment managers globally, they apply Active Thinking^® to deliver proactive solutions that help clients pursue better outcomes in all markets. Natixis Investment Managers ranks among the world's largest asset management firms¹ with nearly $1.1 trillion assets under management² (€910.0 billion).

Natixis Investment Managers' distribution and service groups include Natixis Distribution, L.P., a limited purpose broker-dealer and the distributor of various U.S. registered investment companies for which advisory services are provided by affiliated firms of Natixis Investment Managers, Natixis Investment Managers S.A. (Luxembourg), Natixis Investment Managers International (France), and their affiliated distribution and service entities in Europe and Asia.

¹ Cerulli Quantitative Update: Global Markets 2020 ranked Natixis Investment Managers as the 17th largest asset manager in the world based on assets under management as of December 31, 2019.

² Assets under management ("AUM") as of September 30, 2020 is $1,067.3 billion. AUM, as reported, may include notional assets, assets serviced, gross assets, assets of minority-owned affiliated entities and other types of non-regulatory AUM managed or serviced by firms affiliated with Natixis Investment Managers.

SOURCE Harris Associates L.P.