Conditions facing global fund managers in February were, to be frank, tough. Long-term US Treasury bond yields again finished the month moderately higher, as did yields in major euro-zone countries and UK yields. However, the Aussie dollar was weaker against the major currencies with the exception of yen. Eight of the 30 funds in the YieldReport survey finished the month with a positive return.
The median 1 month performance in the YieldReport survey of global bond funds in February was -0.64% (January: -0.13%) while the median return over the 12 months including February was 4.29% (January: 3.12%). The Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, a widely-used index in this sector, returned -1.03% over the month and 3.56% over the rolling year (when hedged into Australian dollars).
In US markets, the 2-year Treasury yield added 29bps to 4.62%, the 10-year yield gained 23bps to 4.26% while the 30-year yield finished 13bps higher at 4.38%. BBB corporate spreads tightened modestly.
In other major bond markets, the German 10-year bund yield gained 24bps to 2.41% while the French 10-year OAT yield rose by 22bps to 2.87%. The 10-year UK gilt yield finished the month 21bps higher at 4.22%.
The best performing global fund for the month in the YieldReport February survey was the Bentham Professional Syndicated Loan Fund which produced a return of 0.72% for the month. The second-highest return for the month, 0.71%, was produced by the Invesco Wholesale Senior Secured Income Fund while Ardea Real Outcome Fund was next with a return of 0.69%.
In terms of fund performance for the twelve months to the end of February, the Bentham Wholesale High Yield Fund retained the title as the highest performing fund. It produced 12-month return of 11.18% while Bentham Professional Syndicated Loan Fund was second with a return of 10.08% and the Invesco Wholesale Senior Secured Income was next with a return of 8.93%.
| GLOBAL BOND FUNDS | ASX mFund | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance International Fixed Interest Multi-Blend | -1.03 | 2.86 | 3.86 | -3.08 | -0.42 | |
| ANZ-CFS Global Credit Income EF | 0.24 | 1.85 | 5.49 | 1.41 | 1.05 | |
| Ardea Real Outcome Fund | 0.69 | -1.26 | 3.81 | 1.17 | 3.29 | |
| Bentham Professional Global Income | mFund | -0.35 | 4.12 | 5.23 | 3.24 | 3.75 |
| Bentham Wholesale High Yield | mFund | 0.15 | 3.98 | 11.18 | 1.76 | 2.97 |
| Bentham Syndicated Loan ASX Class | mFund | 0.72 | 3.11 | 10.08 | 4.25 | 3.62 |
| Kapstream Wholesale Absolute Return Income | mFund | 0.03 | 1.40 | 5.10 | 1.88 | 1.95 |
| CFS Wholesale Global Corporate Bond | -1.37 | 2.13 | 5.29 | -3.33 | 0.85 | |
| Dimensional Five-Year Diversified Fixed Interest | 0.33 | 1.14 | 4.29 | -1.29 | -0.07 | |
| Dimensional Global Bond Trust | -1.04 | 2.21 | 5.58 | -3.18 | 0.02 | |
| Dimensional Two-Year Diversified Fixed Interest | 0.34 | 1.16 | 4.37 | 0.19 | 0.71 | |
| Franklin Templeton Global Aggregate Bond Fund (W Class) | -0.98 | 1.83 | 3.54 | -2.58 | 0.13 | |
| Invesco Wholesale Senior Secured Income | mFund | 0.71 | 2.55 | 8.93 | 4.35 | 3.82 |
| Legg Mason Brandywine Global Opp Fixed Income A | mFund | -1.80 | 2.22 | 2.96 | -2.92 | 0.26 |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Global Bond Fund | -1.49 | 1.51 | 3.66 | -3.52 | -0.01 | |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Macro Opportunities Bond Fund | -2.32 | 4.27 | 1.88 | -4.92 | -0.40 | |
| Macquarie Global Income Opportunities Fund | -0.05 | 2.40 | 5.10 | 0.92 | 1.87 | |
| Macquarie Core Australian Fixed Interest Plus Fund | -0.62 | 3.44 | 3.67 | -2.16 | 0.33 | |
| Mercer Global Credit Fund | -0.99 | 2.18 | 3.92 | -3.54 | 0.16 | |
| Mercer Global Sovereign Bond Fund | -0.55 | 1.22 | 0.86 | -2.84 | 0.10 | |
| PIMCO Global Bond (Wholesale) | mFund | -0.67 | 2.44 | 4.28 | -2.64 | 0.44 |
| PIMCO Global Credi (Wholesale) | mFund | -1.00 | 2.27 | 3.69 | -2.99 | 0.11 |
| PIMCO Diversified Fixed Interest Wholesale | mFund | -0.43 | 2.70 | 5.54 | -4.57 | -0.82 |
| PIMCO Unconstrained Bond (Wholesale) | mFund | -0.07 | 2.39 | 5.33 | -1.44 | 0.68 |
| State Street SSgA Global Fixed Income Trust | -0.85 | 1.53 | 2.86 | -3.91 | -0.75 | |
| T.Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond Fund | -0.09 | 0.04 | -4.72 | -0.86 | 1.46 | |
| UBS Global Credit Fund | -1.23 | 2.50 | 4.45 | -3.65 | 0.47 | |
| UBS International Bond | -0.98 | 2.05 | 3.03 | -3.01 | -0.14 | |
| Vanguard International Credit Securities Index (Hedged) | -1.10 | 1.96 | 4.57 | -3.39 | 0.04 | |
| Vanguard International Fixed Interest Index (Hedged) | -0.87 | 1.41 | 2.83 | -3.41 | -0.66 |
*End of February 2024. Return in AUD after fees