In Australia, the 10-year Treasury bond yield trended upwards through the month, with a pullback at the very end of it. By this point, the 3-year ACGB yield had increased by 22bps to 1.58%, the 10-year yield had gained 23bps to 2.15% while the 20-year yield finished 15bps higher at 2.55%.
Conditions facing fund managers in February were just as tormenting as they were in January. The FRN Index was the best performer again after it returned -0.04% for the month. The Corporate Bond Index produced the second-highest return, -1.07%, while Semi-Government Index was next with a return of -1.16%. The return of the Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds, was next at -1.21% while the Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, returned -1.31%.
Again, just 2 out of 32 managers in the YieldReport survey produced positive results and the month’s median return was -1.28%.
The Realm Strategic Income (Enduring Units) Fund produced a return of 0.35% in the February survey, thus retaining its title as the highest performing fund. However, it had to share the honours with the Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund, which also returned of 0.35%. The Spectrum Strategic Income Fund was next with a return of -0.10%.
On a 12-month basis, the Realm Strategic Income Fund (Enduring Units) Fund retained its title as the highest performing fund in February. The Realm fund returned 5.74% while the next highest return again came from the Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund with a return of 4.97%. The Realm High Income (Wholesale) Fund had the third-highest 12-month performance (again) with a return of 3.00%.
| AUSTRALIAN FIXED INTEREST | ASX mFund | 1m (%) | 3m (%) | 1y (%) | 3y (%) | 5y (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Aus Fixed Intr Multi-Blend | -1.40 | -2.43 | -1.80 | 0.79 | 1.63 | |
| AMP Capital Corporate Bond | ACA02 | -0.42 | -0.46 | -0.05 | 1.93 | 2.29 |
| Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund | 0.35 | 1.11 | 4.97 | 4.54 | 5.02 | |
| Alpha Enhanced Yield | IWM05 | -2.22 | -4.02 | -2.55 | -0.81 | -0.17 |
| AMP Flex Lifetime S2-AMP Australian Bond | -1.34 | -2.30 | -1.38 | 1.23 | 2.06 | |
| AMP Generations BlackRock Aust Fixed Interest Index | -1.30 | -2.41 | -2.22 | 0.40 | 1.53 | |
| Altius Bond Fund | n/a | 0.06 | -0.46 | 0.59 | 1.36 | |
| Artesian Corporate Bond Fund | -0.31 | -0.29 | -0.18 | 2.27 | 3.08 | |
| Pendal Enhanced Credit (Wholesale) | -1.00 | -1.49 | -2.02 | 2.08 | 2.90 | |
| BT Fixed Interest Retail | -1.40 | -2.32 | -1.39 | 0.88 | 1.77 | |
| Pendal Fixed Interest (Wholesale) | -1.48 | -2.07 | -0.72 | 1.76 | 2.53 | |
| Pendal Government Bond | -1.39 | -2.31 | -0.45 | 1.79 | 2.87 | |
| CFS Aberdeen Australian Fixed Interest | -1.33 | -2.24 | -1.97 | 0.68 | 1.61 | |
| CFS Wholesale Australian Bond | -1.11 | -2.05 | -1.34 | 1.82 | 2.57 | |
| DDH Fixed Interest | -1.38 | -2.32 | -1.53 | 1.66 | 2.61 | |
| Spectrum Strategic Income | SPE01 | -0.10 | -0.05 | 0.85 | 2.14 | 2.96 |
| Jamieson Coote Bonds Active | -1.39 | -2.44 | -1.25 | 1.39 | 2.56 | |
| Legg Mason Western Asset Australian Bond Trust | LMA04 | -1.27 | -2.17 | -1.24 | 1.73 | 2.87 |
| Macquarie Australian Fixed Interest | -1.21 | -2.00 | -0.79 | 1.81 | 2.83 | |
| Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund | -1.34 | -2.36 | -0.80 | 1.47 | 2.73 | |
| Nikko AM Australian Bond | -1.30 | -2.25 | -1.00 | 1.71 | 2.87 | |
| Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Inst) | -1.38 | -2.46 | -0.63 | 2.18 | 3.02 | |
| Henderson Tactical Income | -0.10 | -0.21 | 0.70 | 2.15 | 2.46 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Schroder Fixed Income | -1.57 | -2.41 | -2.13 | 1.38 | 1.99 | |
| Perpetual WFIA-Vanguard Aust Fixed Interest Index | -1.26 | -2.25 | -1.56 | 0.61 | 1.64 | |
| PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale) | PMF04 | -1.46 | -2.03 | -1.55 | 1.46 | 2.50 |
| PIMCO Australian Focus (Wholesale) | PMF05 | -1.05 | -1.40 | -1.35 | 1.31 | 2.04 |
| Realm High Income (Wholesale) | -0.22 | -0.01 | 3.00 | 4.21 | 3.83 | |
| Realm Strategic Income - Enduring Units | 0.35 | 1.31 | 5.74 | n/a | n/a | |
| SSgA Australian Fixed Income | -1.21 | -2.16 | -1.29 | 1.41 | 2.59 | |
| UBS Australian Bond Fund | -1.28 | -2.10 | -1.38 | 1.34 | 2.60 | |
| Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index | UAM04 | -1.25 | -2.24 | -1.36 | 1.33 | 2.52 |
| Vanguard Australian Govt Bond Index | -1.27 | -2.42 | -1.18 | 1.29 | 2.49 | |
| Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+YR AUD | -1.21 | -2.13 | -1.09 | 1.56 | 2.73 |
*End of December 2021. Return in AUD after fees