WS Keyridge Global Macro Bond Fund

Essential features of the Fund

• The Fund is globally diversified with a focus on advanced economies. Its investment universe spans government bonds, high quality government related and corporate bonds, as well as currencies, across a wide range of countries, currencies and sectors.

• It can invest across different industry sectors and geographic regions without limitation.

• Investment in collective investment schemes is limited to 10% of assets by value.

• The Fund may use derivatives for efficient portfolio management purposes.

For further details on the objective and investment policy, visit the Literature section to view fund KIIDs and Prospectus.

How the Fund is managed

• The managers consider global trends in macro and monetary factors, such as interest rates and inflation, and analyse the domestic influences on the global bond markets.

• A detailed macro review is undertaken quarterly, resulting in economic and interest rate forecasts for all key markets.

• A weekly review involving the entire fixed income team is undertaken to assess positioning and market developments, including corporate news, economic data, interest rate movements, inflation expectations, credit spreads, liquidity, yields, economic data releases, new issues coming to the market, rating developments and corporate bond calls.

• The managers assess the exposure of a typical global bond index as a starting point and then adapt this base case to build physical investment positions in a diversified portfolio. They may implement views either through physical holdings or the use of derivatives such as interest rate futures, government bond futures, credit default swaps and currency forwards. FX exposures are managed actively but hedging is used where appropriate.

• Top down macroeconomic analysis is supported by bottom up credit research from the in house credit research team and other resources across the fixed income team.

• The Fund’s active investment approach allows the managers to implement thematic ideas and express views on interest rates, inflation, currencies or any sector of the bond market, making full use of the investment universe.

• Currency positioning is actively managed, so the Fund may invest in non sterling denominated assets and may choose whether currencies are hedged or unhedged back to sterling.

• The managers seek to add value at multiple levels through active asset allocation, duration management, yield curve positioning, sector allocation, credit selection, stock selection and active currency management.

• The portfolio is managed on a total return basis, aiming to achieve income while also seeking capital appreciation.

• Whilst the Fund makes use of external research, it is mainly driven by our in house credit research team, which undertakes detailed analysis of individual bonds and issuers, including financial strength, business model, ESG considerations and risk, as well as duration positioning.

Reasons to recommend

• Capital growth potential

  The Fund also represents a long term investment solution that offers the prospect of growth, making it an attractive building block in a diversified investment portfolio. The Fund may not be appropriate for investors who plan to withdraw their money within five years.

• Globally diversified

  As a truly global bond fund, the WS Keyridge Global Macro Bond Fund benefits from broad diversification across government and corporate bonds, but also currencies, countries, maturities and sectors. This is important as currency can be an important driver of returns and its impact is often overlooked.

• Drawing on experience

  The fixed income team are able to draw on their considerable experience in managing fixed income assets, including conventional fixed income, index linked bonds, corporate credits and global bonds.