In Australia, the 10-year Treasury bond yield went sideways for the first week or so. However, yields consistently moved significantly higher each week from there on. By the end of the month, the 3-year ACGB yield had increased by 98bps to 2.56%, the 10-year yield had gained 75bps to 2.90% while the 20-year yield finished 67bps higher at 3.22%.
As a result, conditions facing fund managers in March were, to put it bluntly, truly awful. The FRN Index was the best performer again after it returned -0.26% for the month. The Corporate Bond Index produced the second-highest return, -3.05%, while Semi-Government Index was next with a return of -3.70%. The return of the Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds, was next at -3.75% while the Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, returned -4.03%.
Again, just 2 out of 32 managers in the YieldReport survey produced positive results and the month’s median return was -3.82%.
The Realm Strategic Income (Enduring Units) Fund produced a return of 0.28% in the March survey, thus retaining its title as the highest performing fund for a third consecutive month. The Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund produced a return of 0.22%, making it the second-highest returning fund in the sector while the Spectrum Strategic Income Fund was next with a return of -0.33%.
On a 12-month basis, the Realm Strategic Income Fund (Enduring Units) Fund retained its title as the highest performing fund in March. The Realm fund returned 5.52% while the next highest return again came from the Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund with a return of 4.78%. The Realm High Income (Wholesale) Fund had the third-highest 12-month performance (again) with a return of 1.80%.
| AUSTRALIAN FIXED INTEREST | ASX mFund | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Aus Fixed Intr Multi-Blend | -4.18 | -6.63 | -6.63 | -1.17 | 0.69 | |
| AMP Capital Corporate Bond | ACA02 | -0.74 | -1.21 | -0.90 | 1.55 | 2.07 |
| Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund | 0.22 | 0.97 | 4.78 | 4.44 | 4.90 | |
| Alpha Enhanced Yield | IWM05 | -1.30 | -5.92 | -3.86 | -1.59 | -0.50 |
| AMP Flex Lifetime S2-AMP Australian Bond | -4.21 | -6.57 | -6.22 | -0.83 | 1.12 | |
| AMP Generations BlackRock Aust Fixed Interest Index | -3.84 | -6.14 | -6.62 | -1.45 | 0.67 | |
| Altius Bond Fund | n/a | n/a | -0.68 | 0.41 | 1.29 | |
| Artesian Corporate Bond Fund | -1.03 | -1.42 | -1.13 | 1.74 | 2.73 | |
| Pendal Enhanced Credit (Wholesale) | -2.92 | -4.54 | -5.00 | 0.63 | 2.18 | |
| BT Fixed Interest Retail | -3.80 | -6.12 | -5.91 | -0.94 | 0.91 | |
| Pendal Fixed Interest (Wholesale) | -3.96 | -6.19 | -5.71 | -0.16 | 1.61 | |
| Pendal Government Bond | -3.98 | -6.37 | -5.46 | -0.19 | 1.94 | |
| CFS Aberdeen Australian Fixed Interest | -3.93 | -6.26 | -6.49 | -1.13 | 0.72 | |
| CFS Wholesale Australian Bond | -3.80 | -5.87 | -5.79 | -0.06 | 1.67 | |
| DDH Fixed Interest | -3.79 | -6.10 | -6.01 | -0.19 | 1.72 | |
| Spectrum Strategic Income | SPE01 | -0.33 | -0.52 | 0.37 | 1.77 | 2.77 |
| Jamieson Coote Bonds Active | -4.16 | -6.50 | -6.32 | -0.74 | 1.56 | |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Australian Bond Trust | LMA04 | -3.98 | -6.25 | -5.87 | -0.24 | 1.94 |
| Macquarie Australian Fixed Interest | -4.01 | -6.03 | -5.72 | -0.17 | 1.89 | |
| Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund | -4.09 | -6.40 | -5.80 | -0.64 | 1.77 | |
| Nikko AM Australian Bond | -4.05 | -6.31 | -5.78 | -0.24 | 1.92 | |
| Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Inst) | -4.42 | -6.98 | -5.82 | 0.15 | 2.00 | |
| Henderson Tactical Income | -0.93 | -1.17 | -0.51 | 1.69 | 2.19 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Schroder Fixed Income | -3.96 | -6.45 | -6.58 | -0.52 | 1.11 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Vanguard Aust Fixed Interest Index | -3.70 | -5.99 | -5.83 | -1.19 | 0.80 | |
| PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale) | PMF04 | -3.86 | -6.14 | -6.02 | -0.37 | 1.60 |
| PIMCO Australian Focus (Wholesale) | PMF05 | -2.19 | -3.86 | -3.96 | 0.21 | 1.51 |
| Realm High Income (Wholesale) | -0.47 | -0.70 | 1.80 | 3.88 | 3.59 | |
| Realm Strategic Income - Enduring Units | 0.28 | 1.08 | 5.52 | n/a | n/a | |
| SSgA Australian Fixed Income | -3.79 | -6.02 | -5.77 | -0.49 | 1.71 | |
| UBS Australian Bond Fund | -3.90 | -6.16 | -5.90 | -0.54 | 1.68 | |
| Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index | UAM04 | -3.72 | -6.00 | -5.70 | -0.53 | 1.64 |
| Vanguard Australian Govt Bond Index | -3.95 | -6.33 | -5.96 | -0.69 | 1.59 | |
| Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+YR AUD | -3.75 | -5.88 | -5.55 | -0.32 | -1.86 |
*End of March 2022. Return in AUD after fees