Nine strategic bond funds for all situations
By Kristen McGachey, 23 May 16
The ‘go anywhere’ approach of strategic bond funds has been a big hit with investors in recent years and big calls across the fixed-income spectrum are now having a huge influence on returns.
Funds to watch - assets under management
- Liquidity is a concern for bond fund buyers and there has been much commentary on the polarisation of a small number of funds that make up the majority of assets held in the IA Sterling Strategic Bond sector. The £15.2bn M&G Optimal Income Fund is the heavyweight in the sector. It is managed by one of most experienced bond fund managers in the retail space, Richard Woolnough (pictured), who is also the manager of two other flagship funds.
- The Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus Fund seeks to exploit the best ideas from ‘the two Pauls’, Causer and Read, as well as the equity knowledge and experience of their UK equity income manager, Ciaran Mallon. The trio mix corporate and government high-yielding debt securities on a global basis, with equities aiming to attain a high level of income as well as capital growth. Since launch the fund has annualised 5.7% per annum.
- Jupiter was not necessarily a name you would have associated with bond investing in 2008, but Ariel Bezalel has nurtured the Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund to £2.6bn since launch. The mandate is flexible investing broadly across the fixed-interest spectrum. The portfolio is built from a macroeconomic overview of the global economy, which then dictates the positioning of the fund. The portfolio is currently one-third invested in government debt with the balance in corporate bonds.
Tags: Bonds
