Managed Funds

In Australia, the 10-year Treasury bond yield trended up for much of the month at a fairly steady pace before falling back in the last few days of it. By this point, the 3-year ACGB yield had gained 17bps to 1.36%, the 10-year yield had added 20bps to 1.92% while the 20-year yield finished 9bps higher at 2.40%.

Conditions facing fund managers in January understandably took a turn for the worse. The FRN Index was the best performer after it returned 0.015% for the month. The Corporate Bond Index produced the second-highest return, -0.57%, while the Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds, was next with a return of -1.02%. The return of the Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, was not far behind at 1.04% while the Semi-Government Index returned -1.31%.

Just 2 out of 32 managers in the YieldReport survey produced positive results and the month’s median return was -1.06%.

The Realm Strategic Income (Enduring Units) Fund produced a return of 0.45%, thus making it the highest performing fund in the January survey. The Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund’s return of 0.39% was the second highest for the month while the Realm High Income (Wholesale) Fund was next with a return of -0.02%.

On a 12-month basis, the Realm Strategic Income Fund (Enduring Units) Fund retained its title as the highest performing fund in January. The Realm fund returned 5.76% while the next highest return again came from the Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund with a return of 5.14%. The Realm High Income (Wholesale) Fund had the third-highest 12-month performance (again) with a return of 2.67%.

AUSTRALIAN FIXED INTEREST	ASX mFund	1m (%)	3m (%)	1y (%)	3y (%)	5y (%)
Advance Aus Fixed Intr Multi-Blend		-1.18	0.99	-4.21	1.55	1.94
AMP Capital Corporate Bond	ACA02	-0.05	-0.06	0.38	2.23	2.45
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund		0.39	1.13	5.14	4.54	5.02
Alpha Enhanced Yield	IWM05	-2.56	-0.63	-0.65	0.14	0.46
AMP Flex Lifetime S2-AMP Australian Bond		-1.14	0.92	-3.84	1.99	2.37
AMP Generations BlackRock Aust Fixed Interest Index		-1.12	0.82	-4.62	1.12	1.82
Altius Bond Fund		n/a	0.74	-2.34	0.74	1.38
Artesian Corporate Bond Fund		-0.09	-0.09	-0.03	2.55	n/a
Pendal Enhanced Credit (Wholesale)		-0.67	0.45	-2.63	2.70	3.18
BT Fixed Interest Retail		-1.02	1.14	-3.77	1.64	2.11
Pendal Fixed Interest (Wholesale)		-0.86	1.55	-3.74	2.55	2.85
Pendal Government Bond		-1.11	1.50	-3.54	2.60	3.21
CFS Aberdeen Australian Fixed Interest		-1.12	0.95	-4.27	1.41	1.91
CFS Wholesale Australian Bond		-1.05	0.94	-3.70	2.51	2.84
DDH Fixed Interest		-1.04	0.98	-3.76	2.47	2.94
Spectrum Strategic Income	SPE01	-0.08	0.21	1.17	2.48	3.10
Jamieson Coote Bonds Active		-1.06	1.35	-4.12	2.22	2.95
Legg Mason Western Asset Australian Bond Trust	LMA04	-1.11	1.09	-3.61	2.50	3.20
Macquarie Australian Fixed Interest		-0.91	1.48	-3.43	2.56	3.12
Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund		-1.09	1.42	-3.91	2.27	3.03
Nikko AM Australian Bond		-1.07	1.09	-3.65	2.47	3.18
Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Inst)		-1.31	1.44	-3.31	2.93	3.38
Henderson Tactical Income		-0.14	0.41	-0.14	2.29	2.55
Perpetual WFIA-Schroder Fixed Income		-1.04	0.97	-3.63	2.21	2.31
Perpetual WFIA-Vanguard Aust Fixed Interest Index		-1.14	1.01	-3.79	1.32	1.91
PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale)	PMF04	-0.93	1.13	-3.59	2.30	2.84
PIMCO Australian Focus (Wholesale)	PMF05	-0.66	0.44	-2.31	1.83	2.31
Realm High Income (Wholesale)		-0.02	0.79	2.67	4.50	3.92
Realm Strategic Income - Enduring Units		0.45	1.43	5.76	n/a	n/a
SSgA Australian Fixed Income		-1.12	1.08	-3.64	2.15	2.88
UBS Australian Bond Fund		-1.09	1.19	-3.86	2.10	2.92
Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index	UAM04	-1.14	1.06	-3.70	2.06	2.80
Vanguard Australian Govt Bond Index		-1.23	1.14	-3.92	2.05	2.78
Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+YR AUD		-1.02	1.13	-3.46	2.30	3.02

^{*End of December 2021. Return in AUD after fees}