In Australia, the 10-year Treasury bond yield trended up over the first three weeks of the month before essentially going sideways for the remainder. By the end of the month, the 3-year ACGB yield had increased by 30bps to 2.86%, the 10-year yield had gained 27bps to 3.17% while the 20-year yield finished 22bps higher at 3.44%.
As a result, conditions facing fund managers in April were not quite as awful as they were in March but they were still bad. The FRN Index was again the best performer after it returned -0.05% for the month. The Corporate Bond Index produced the second-highest return, -1.34%, while the Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds was next with a return of -1.49%. The return of the Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, was not far behind at -1.51% while the Semi-Government Index returned -1.62%.
Again, just 2 out of 32 managers in the YieldReport survey produced positive results and the month’s median return was -1.56%.
The Realm Strategic Income (Enduring Units) Fund produced a return of 0.31% in the April survey, thus retaining its title as the best performing fund for a fourth consecutive month. The Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund produced a return of 0.22%, making it the second-highest returning fund in the sector, also for a second consecutive month. The AMP Capital Corporate Bond Fund was next with a return of -0.15%.
On a 12-month basis, the Realm Strategic Income Fund (Enduring Units) Fund retained its title as the highest performing fund in April. The Realm fund returned 5.41% while the next highest return again came from the Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund with a return of 4.58%. The Realm High Income (Wholesale) Fund had the third-highest 12-month performance (again) with a return of 0.54%.
| AUSTRALIAN FIXED INTEREST | ASX mFund | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Aus Fixed Intr Multi-Blend | -1.82 | -7.24 | -8.87 | -1.85 | 0.19 | |
| AMP Capital Corporate Bond | ACA02 | -0.15 | -1.30 | -1.27 | 1.33 | 2.00 |
| Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund | 0.28 | 0.85 | 4.58 | 4.42 | 4.87 | |
| Alpha Enhanced Yield | IWM05 | -1.31 | -4.76 | -5.94 | -1.82 | -0.86 |
| AMP Flex Lifetime S2-AMP Australian Bond | -1.76 | -7.15 | -8.42 | -1.50 | 0.63 | |
| AMP Generations BlackRock Aust Fixed Interest Index | -1.57 | -6.57 | -8.51 | -2.03 | 0.23 | |
| Altius Bond Fund | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Artesian Corporate Bond Fund | -0.67 | -2.01 | -2.08 | 1.33 | 2.52 | |
| Pendal Enhanced Credit (Wholesale) | -1.36 | -5.20 | -6.66 | 0.00 | 1.78 | |
| BT Fixed Interest Retail | -1.68 | -6.74 | -7.99 | -1.59 | 0.45 | |
| Pendal Fixed Interest (Wholesale) | -1.65 | -6.94 | -7.89 | -0.71 | 1.12 | |
| Pendal Government Bond | -1.70 | -6.92 | -7.69 | -0.86 | 1.43 | |
| CFS Aberdeen Australian Fixed Interest | -1.56 | -6.68 | -8.54 | -1.74 | 0.27 | |
| CFS Wholesale Australian Bond | -1.50 | -6.30 | -7.71 | -0.64 | 1.24 | |
| DDH Fixed Interest | -1.67 | -6.70 | -8.13 | -0.86 | 1.24 | |
| Spectrum Strategic Income | SPE01 | -0.18 | -0.62 | 0.07 | 1.61 | 2.66 |
| Jamieson Coote Bonds Active | -1.45 | -6.87 | -8.17 | -1.27 | 1.16 | |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Australian Bond Trust | LMA04 | -1.70 | -6.81 | -8.03 | -0.92 | 1.44 |
| Macquarie Australian Fixed Interest | -1.60 | -6.69 | -7.79 | -0.82 | 1.41 | |
| Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund | -1.47 | -6.76 | -7.70 | -1.19 | 1.29 | |
| Nikko AM Australian Bond | -1.64 | -6.85 | -7.90 | -0.90 | 1.45 | |
| Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Inst) | -2.01 | -7.64 | -8.43 | -0.67 | 1.44 | |
| Henderson Tactical Income | -1.21 | -2.23 | -1.96 | 1.14 | 1.88 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Schroder Fixed Income | -1.57 | -6.95 | -8.61 | -1.13 | 0.69 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Vanguard Aust Fixed Interest Index | -1.58 | -6.41 | -7.81 | -1.78 | 0.36 | |
| PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale) | PMF04 | -1.57 | -6.75 | -8.15 | -1.06 | 1.14 |
| PIMCO Australian Focus (Wholesale) | PMF05 | -0.75 | -3.94 | -4.99 | -0.15 | 1.25 |
| Realm High Income (Wholesale) | -0.70 | -1.38 | 0.54 | 3.39 | 3.40 | |
| Realm Strategic Income - Enduring Units | 0.31 | 0.95 | 5.41 | n/a | n/a | |
| SSgA Australian Fixed Income | -1.49 | -6.37 | -7.65 | -1.07 | 1.26 | |
| UBS Australian Bond Fund | -1.53 | -6.58 | -7.87 | -1.15 | 1.21 | |
| Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index | UAM04 | -1.57 | -6.41 | -7.69 | -1.15 | 1.18 |
| Vanguard Australian Govt Bond Index | -1.56 | -6.64 | -7.93 | -1.28 | 1.12 | |
| Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+YR AUD | -1.49 | -6.33 | -7.47 | -0.91 | 1.40 |
*End of April 2022. Return in AUD after fees