Fixed Income

Twelve months ago, as we wrote our annual review and forecast for 2019, backing 10-year German government bonds that were yielding just 0.24% at the time to perform would have been a brave call.

By now investors should be getting used to the ever more frequent hiccups in the trade negotiations between the US and the rest of the world.

"In some parts of the global economy, we might be seeing a bottom in terms of low activity levels." TwentyFour's Felipe Villarroel discusses the factors behind these improving trends.

“NIBC, has been involved in ESG/CSR focused lending in Europe for some time, and is the first manager to issue what we might call an ESG CLO." Elena Rinaldi discusses why in terms of ESG, NIBC would receive a high score from us.

"Younited’s funding strategy is as innovative as its business model... In May this year, the company successfully issued its first #ABS backed by French consumer loans" TwentyFour's Ben Hayward discusses.

Douglas Charleston, Partner and Portfolio Manager of the UK Mortgages Limited Fund provides an update on the fund.

"We have been participants in the Additional Tier 1 (AT1) sector since its introduction in 2013, albeit with a high degree of selectivity, but the risk-reward has been obvious to us." Gary Kirk discusses the latest AT1 news from Fitch

At this late point in the cycle, fixed income investors are on high alert for signs of potential excess in the capital markets, and a proposal for potentially the biggest leveraged buyout (LBO) in history would certainly fall into that category.

At TwentyFour Asset Management we believe Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors can have an influence on the value of our investments, and we have recently formalised our approach to these risks by integrating an ESG framework throughout the firm’s investment process, across all strategies.

Partner and Portfolio Manager Eoin Walsh provides an update on the Dynamic Bond Fund.

Chris Bowie, Partner and Portfolio Manager provides an update on the TwentyFour Corporate Bond Fund.

The Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, combined with financial results from the banks, is probably still the most useful tool we have for gauging the cycle’s life expectancy.