This is a tracker fund that aims to provide a low-cost investment route for investing in UK government debt (usually referred to as ‘gilts’). A very plain vanilla fund, the tracker holds the roughly 42 stocks that make up the index in the same proportion as the index - it is therefore considered “fully, physically replicating”. The fund makes no use of derivatives and does not engage in any securities lending, which would introduce the potential for counter-party risk.
Although gilts are often considered a ‘risk-free’ asset class, and typically have a negative correlation to equity markets, they still carry a number of investment risks.
Principally, these bonds tend to have a relatively long time to maturity compared to corporate bonds, this makes them highly sensitive to interest rate changes, with rising interest rates (or the expectation of rising interest rates) generally giving rise to falls in gilt prices. They can also be sensitive to inflation.
It can be challenging for many active managers to add value in this part of the market, making a passive approach relatively attractive. This fund is added to our Premier Selection of rated funds.
Bonds issued by major governments and companies will be more stable that those issued by emerging markets or smaller corporate issuers; in the event of an issuer experiencing financial difficulty, there may be a risk to some or all of the capital invested. Please note that historical or current yields should not be considered reliable indicator of future performance.
The value of investments, and the income derived from them, can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally invested.
This article is not a personal recommendation or advice to invest.
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