Invesco Perpetual Corporate Bond
Industry stalwarts Paul Causer and Paul Read are at the helm of this £5.6bn offering from Invesco Perpetual. In March 2013, Michael Matthews joined them in running the fund, which sets out to achieve a combination of income and capital growth. It does this by investing primarily in investment-grade corporate debt securities.
The managers can also gain exposure to government, unrated and sub-investment-grade debt securities, cash, cash equivalents, money-market instruments and collective investment schemes.
The latest fund factsheet states: “Corporate bond yields remain very low by historical standards and we believe many areas of the market offer an unattractive level of reward compared to their risks. Our strategy is defensive and we have significant exposure to highly liquid assets and cash. We think yields in some parts of the financial sector are relatively attractive.”
The fund was launched in July 1995 and since then has delivered several years of outperformance compared to the IMA Sterling Corporate Bond sector. Over five years, the fund’s total return is 38.50 per cent, against the 37.83 per cent average generated by the IMA sector.
What the judges say
The judges said this was a steady, plain vanilla product that delivers attractive returns.
Club members
M&G Strategic Corporate Bond
Premier Corporate Bond Monthly Income
Rathbone Ethical Bond
Royal London Sterling Credit
In numbers
£5.6bn
Fund size
58.23%
Five-year actual return
1.16%
Ongoing charges
