The 10-year Australian Treasury bond yield fell consistently through the first week and a half of December before reversing course over the next week. It then trended sideways until the end of the month. By this point, the 3-year ACGB yield had lost 10bps to 3.81%, the 10-year yield had gained 5bps to 4.40% while the 20-year yield 11bps higher at 4.79%.
As a result, conditions facing fund managers in December were testing but still conducive to positive returns. The Bloomberg Ausbond Semi-Government Index was again the best performer after it returned 1.48% for the month. The Corporate Bond Index produced the second-highest return of 0.71% while the Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds, was next with a return of 0.51%. The FRN Index ranked fourth after it produced a return of 0.43% while the Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, returned 0.37%.
All 31 funds in the YieldReport December survey for this segment produced positive results and the month’s median return was 0.54%.
The Realm Strategic Income (Enduring Units) Fund produced a return of 0.82%, making it the highest returning fund for the month. Realm’s High Income (Wholesale) Fund ranked second with a return of 0.76% while the PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale) Fund was third after it returned 0.72%.
On a 12-month basis, Realm’s Strategic Income Fund took over the title as the highest performing fund in this segment. The fund returned 10.49% over the year while the next-highest return came from Realm’s High Income Fund with a return of 10.07%. The Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund retained third place after it produced a 12-month return of 9.18%.
| APIR Code | Fund Name | AUM ($m) | Management Fee | 1-Year CAGR (%) | 3-Year CAGR (%) | 5-Year CAGR (%) | Max Drawdown (5 year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMP7750AU | AMP Capital Advantage Corporate Bond in AU | 9.7 | 0.5 | -0.35 | 0.29 | -0.05 | -4.69 |
| AMP2037AU | AMP Flex Lifetime Investments S2 Capital Corporate Bond in AU | 0.2 | 1 | -0.77 | -0.16 | -0.79 | -6.36 |
| BlackRock iShares Core Corporate Bond ETF in AU | 302.9 | 0.15 | 3.28 | 1.07 | |||
| Global X Global X Australian Bank Credit ETF Acc AUD in AU | 61.5 | 0.25 | |||||
| AMP9024AU | Macquarie Corporate Bond in AU | 2.7 | 0.53 | -0.35 | 0.29 | -0.07 | -4.69 |
| Russell Australian Select Corporate Bond ETF in AU | 290.6 | 0.28 | 2.93 | 1.82 | -0.6 | -9.99 | |
| SCH7855AU | Schroder Australian High Yielding Credit AUD in AU | 569.7 | 0.4 | ||||
| UBS7880AU | UBS JBWere Australian Credit Dis AUD in AU | 52 | |||||
| VAN0065AU | Vanguard Australian Corporate Fixed Interest Index in AU | 913.9 | 0.24 | 3.91 | 2.2 | -0.21 | -12.13 |
| PPL0028AU | Antares Income in AU | 248 | 0.29 | 2.05 | 1.06 | -0.03 | -6.69 |
| ETL8782AU | Artesian Green & Sustainable Bond in AU | 0.5 | 3.34 | 1.44 | |||
| BetaShares Interest Rate Hedged Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF in AU | 42.4 | 0.29 | 2.61 | ||||
| BetaShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF in AU | 1115.5 | 0.22 | 4.76 | 0.65 | -2.36 | -25.23 | |
| IPN0709AU | iPartners High Yield Dis AUD in AU | 22 | 1.2 | -2.03 | -0.01 | ||
| IOF0127AU | Janus Henderson Diversified Credit in AU | 1141.8 | 0.55 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.58 | -9.08 |
| PER0263AU | Perpetual Credit Income in AU | 198.7 | 0.31 | -0.72 | 0.51 | 0.77 | -4.45 |
| OMF0018AU | Realm High Income Adviser in AU | 2203.8 | 0.72 | -0.98 | 1.19 | 0.07 | -5.36 |
| VanEck Australian Corporate Bond Plus ETF in AU | 368.5 | 0.32 | 4.43 | 1.22 | -1.13 | -17.16 |