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Products February 8, 2011
Hartford Adds Real Return Objective to Tax-Free Fund
The Hartford Mutual Funds announced an enhancement to the investment
objective and strategy of The Hartford Tax-Free National Fund.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Effective March 1, the newly-named Hartford Municipal Real Return Fund (HTNAX), sub-advised by Hartford Investment Management, will continue to seek income exempt from federal income tax, but also will seek real return, or after-tax inflation-adjusted returns. The fund intends to invest in inflation-linked derivatives and securities to hedge the sensitivity of the municipal bond portfolio against changes in inflation and inflation expectations.
Also effective March 1, Ray Humphrey and senior vice president at Hartford, and James Ong and vice president, will be added as portfolio managers to the fund. They will serve as additional resources to the portfolio alongside Joseph Darcy and Christopher Bade, the current portfolio management team.
The fund’s benchmark will remain the Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index.
“We are enhancing the fund’s investment strategy to broaden its market appeal and help grow assets,” said Jim Davey, president of The Hartford Mutual Funds, in the announcement. “Alongside our Global Real Asset and Inflation Plus funds, Municipal Real Return is another way for financial advisers to address their clients’ inflation concerns, and still give them access to tax-free investing.”