L-R: Taha Lokhandwala, news editor at Investment Adviser, Gary Higgs, business development manager – advisory, London at M&G Investments, and Richard Romer-Lee, managing director at Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research
The 'go-anywhere' M&G Global Macro Bond fund is run by experienced bond investor Jim Leaviss and has been a 100 Club member for the past two years.
Its aim is to deliver income and capital growth over five years or more by investing across the spectrum of fixed income assets, including bonds issued by governments and companies in developed nations and emerging markets.
“The ability to invest anywhere and in any currency gives the fund the freedom to select those assets that the fund manager believes are likely to benefit from the prevailing market trends and economic conditions,” the product’s factsheet states.
Mr Leaviss has been managing the fund since its inception in October 1999.
The fund, which has Claudia Calich as a named deputy, has delivered several years of outperformance, according to FE Analytics. Over five years to October 26, the fund returned 48.9 per cent, while the IA Global Bonds sector lagged with an average 31.5 per cent return.
Shorter term, the fund’s performance has held up too, delivering 29.8 per cent to investors in the past 12 months, just ahead of the peer group average of 21.4 per cent in spite of a challenging time for fixed income markets and a low-return environment.
What the judges say
This fund found favour among the panel of judges courtesy of its go-anywhere, high-conviction approach, which has produced strong returns.
