Time to extract value from Europe’s bargain bonds

Strong performance across markets in January has left some investors feeling they’ve missed out on the rally in bonds. No need to worry, says Felipe Villarroel.

With inflation and rate hikes dominating markets in 2022, European ABS proved to be a valuable allocation for fixed income investors wishing to avoid unwanted yield curve related volatility.

When Wall Street’s army of analysts were publishing their outlooks for 2023 back in November, there was very little love for Europe.

Having done its job of delivering lower volatility and better performance than mainstream bond markets in 2022, the income and defensive characteristics of European ABS look equally compelling in 2023, says Doug Charleston.

As we enter 2023, we think there is good reason for fixed income investors to be positive. This is especially true in investment grade where issuers are typically higher quality, less leveraged and generally have a lower cost of funding than HY issuers.

TwentyFour Portfolio Manager, George Curtis, provides an update on the Multi-Sector teams current investment themes and macro outlook before looking at the performance and portfolio positioning of the Vontobel Fund – TwentyFour Strategic Income Fund.

While yields have soared in recent months and created a broad buying opportunity in fixed income, Aza Teeuwen says investors should look at floating rate bonds to benefit from higher coupons today.

With commercial real estate seen to be in the eye of the storm as interest rates rise, Aza Teeuwen looks at the potential impact on CMBS and CRE loans and highlights where valuations could be most at risk.

European ABS is enjoying a spurt of new issuance and a parallel rally in spreads, with investors having entered the new year with cash to invest and buoyed by renewed hope around inflation and monetary policy, says Pauline Quirin.