M&G Global Macro Bond: March 2021 fund update

Joseph Hill | Fri 05 March 2021

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• Jim Leaviss is a talented and experienced bond manager and has the support of a strong fixed income team at M&G
• The fund is in the Global Bond sector, rather than Strategic Bond, so the manager has more flexibility to invest in foreign currencies. This means the fund could help to diversify a UK-focused bond portfolio
• The fund has delivered strong returns for investors over the long term
• This fund is on our Wealth Shortlist of funds chosen by our analysts for their long-term performance potential

How it fits in a portfolio

The manager aims to generate a combination of income and growth over the long-term. But as income isn’t a priority it might not suit portfolios invested for a high level of income.

The fund could be invested in alongside equity funds for a diverse source of income, or combined with more UK-focused bond funds to add geographical diversification to fixed income portfolios.

Manager

Jim Leaviss is lead manager of the fund and head of M&G’s public fixed income team. He has over 25 years of investment experience and has worked for M&G ever since joining from the Bank of England in 1997. He’s one of the few global bond fund managers to have successfully adjusted their portfolio in response to changing economic conditions on a global basis over the long term.

Leaviss is assisted by a talented and well-resourced team, including Richard Woolnough, Ben Lord and Stefan Isaacs who work in the fixed income team at M&G.

As of 4 January 2021, Eva Sun-Wai replaced Claudia Calich as deputy manager of the fund. Sun-Wai joined M&G in 2018 on their Investment graduate scheme, spending time rotating across several different bond teams. Sun-Wai also became lead manager of the M&G Global Government Bond fund at the same time. Overall we believe Leaviss has the experience and resources to do an excellent job for long-term investors. Our conviction in this fund lies with him.

Process

Jim Leaviss starts with his 'bigger picture' macroeconomic outlook. This includes forming a view on economic growth, interest rates and inflation globally. This helps him decide how much to invest in different areas of the bond market. Leaviss is responsible for how the fund allocates money to different types of bonds and currencies.

The fund is typically invested with one-third in global government bonds, one-third in global investment grade corporate bonds, one-sixth in global higher-risk, high-yield bonds and one-sixth in higher-risk emerging market debt. This can change at any given time depending on the manager's views.

Leaviss is likely to invest more in corporate and emerging market bonds when he is positive, and invest a greater proportion of the fund in government bonds when his outlook is cautious. He can also use derivatives to enhance returns. This allows him to quickly vary exposure to different types of bonds and currencies, as well as benefit from falls in asset prices and rising interest rates (which are negative for bonds) but is a higher-risk approach if used.

Leaviss’ freedom to buy bonds issued in different currencies also means movements in currency exchange rates can add or detract value. He therefore has a lot of flexibility in managing the fund, but this can add risk. The fund may invest more than 35% in securities issued or guaranteed by a member state of the European Economic Area or other countries listed in the fund’s prospectus.

The fund entered 2020 positioned defensively with a high allocation to government bonds. This reflected the manager’s belief that most bonds were unattractively valued. When coronavirus hit markets in March, many bond prices fell to a level Leaviss deemed attractive compared to the risk of default, both in the investment grade and high yield areas of the market. Leaviss was active in adding some of these to the fund and its credit risk increased as a result.

This credit exposure has since fallen as markets have recovered and spreads narrowed once again. A bond credit spread reflects the difference in yield between a treasury and corporate bond of the same maturity. And more recently the manager has increased exposure to emerging markets on valuation grounds.

Culture

Leaviss and the Fixed Interest team at M&G are some of the most experienced investors in the Global Bond sector. The fact Leaviss can call on the views of this talented team means he can make the most of the fund’s flexible, ‘go anywhere’ mandate to take advantage of his best ideas across the bond market. We think there are only a handful of investors with the skill to successfully manage a fund in this sector but the team at M&G are well equipped and have the resources to do an excellent job for long-term investors.

ESG analysis (environmental, social and governance) is integrated into the research process. Leaviss thinks actively engaging with companies on these issues helps the team manage and potentially reduce risk. Leaviss is incentivised based on the performance of the fund over a number of years, we think this is positive as it aligns his incentives with those of investors in the fund.

Cost

This fund has an ongoing annual charge of 0.78%, but we've secured HL clients an ongoing saving of 0.16%. This means you pay a net ongoing charge of 0.62%. The fund discount is achieved in the form of a loyalty bonus, which could be subject to tax if held outside of an ISA or SIPP. We think this is reasonable value to access a fund manager we rate highly. The HL platform fee of up to 0.45% per year also applies.

Performance

Leaviss has historically used the flexibility afforded to him in the fund to good effect to deliver strong returns for investors. He won't get it right every time, but we believe experience is vital for a manager of this type of fund and Leaviss is one of the most experienced bond fund managers in the UK. Over the last 10 years he’s delivered returns of 58.8%, compared to 51.8% for the average global bond fund*. Please remember, past performance is not a guide to the future.

As we entered 2020 Leaviss had positioned the fund defensively, adding government bond exposure and increasing the duration of the fund to take advantage of potential interest rate falls. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of a bond ‘s price to a change in interest rates. In general, the higher the duration, the more a bond's price will rise as interest rates fall. This helped the fund to hold up relatively well through the coronavirus induced market turmoil in March and April, although this is a short period to consider.

Historically, the fund's currency exposure has also had a significant impact on returns, with performance boosted by exposure to the US dollar when it is strong against sterling. This was the case in the first half of 2020 with the US Dollar appreciating, but then reversed during the second half, marginally detracting from calendar year annual performance overall. We expect the fund's currency exposure to continue to be a key influence on performance going forward.

Past performance isn’t a guide to the future. *Source: Lipper IM to 28/02/2021.

Find out more about M&G Global Macro Bond, including charges

M&G Global Macro Bond Key investor information