American Century Debuts Income Fund

The fund will dynamically allocate across multiple income-producing asset classes, according to Scott Wittman, chief investment officer for asset allocation and disciplined equity. Within equities, the team has the latitude to invest in global dividend-paying stocks, utilities, convertible securities, preferred stock, global real estate investment trusts (REITs) and master limited partnerships. The fixed-income component spans the U.S. and non-U.S. bond market, with specific emphasis on income-oriented sectors, including high-yield, developed and emerging market debt, currencies and mortgage-backed securities.  

The fund’s secondary objective is long-term capital appreciation. The portfolio management team factors in total return and risk in an attempt to enhance the potential for sustainable income. Consideration of total return is important in order to maintain the growth of capital above inflation, Wittman says. The team strives to manage the dominant risks inherent in multi-asset income-focused portfolios, including equity risk, interest rate risk and credit risk.  

While the fund is not required to allocate its assets in any fixed proportion, over the long term, equity allocations are expected to range from 20% to 60%, with the fixed-income portion ranging from 40% to 80%. “While typical sources of yield, such as U.S. high-yield bonds and dividend-paying stocks of domestic companies, are expected components of the fund, we are casting a much wider net in our quest to generate sustainable monthly income for investors,” Wittman says.

Multi-Asset Income is available in a number of share classes: investor (AMJVX), institutional (AMJIX), A (AMJAX), C (AMJCX), R (AMJWX) and R6 (AMJRX). It is expected to be categorized as “conservative allocation” by Morningstar. Richard Weiss is the senior portfolio manager; and Radu Gabudean and Scott Wilson are the fund’s portfolio managers.