Bestinvest says
Whilst the team is small, their focus is on just this one mandate. The lead manager has one of the longest track records managing what we would loosely define as strategic bond mandates; he also adopts a more focused higher conviction approach to fixed income investing. The fund is often positioned fairly aggressively from a credit perspective, and at the same time the manager is more wary of the long term outlook for gilts.
This fund has minimal structural constraints providing the manager with the flexibility to invest across the spectrum of investment grade and high yield bonds, apply high yield/corporate bond allocations according to his perception of the credit cycle and hedge interest rate risk if required. Top down and bottom up strategies will primarily be played through sterling and euro denominated credits and gilts. The fund may also take small positions in euro denominated emerging market debt. The manager will not normally invest in convertible bonds, preference shares or unrated debt. All non sterling currency exposure is hedged. Derivatives may be used for managing portfolio exposures, these could include futures to manage interest rate risk and credit default swaps to manage credit exposures. These are intended to be used as hedging tools only, as opposed to a means of arbitrage trading.