Managed Funds

In Australia, the 10-year Treasury bond yield fell around 30bps over the first week, then traded sideways for much of the month before dropping away over the last few days of it. By this point, the 3-year ACGB yield had slumped 35bps to 1.05%, the 10-year yield had shed 42bps to 1.70% while the 20-year yield finished 46bps lower at 2.17%.

Conditions facing fund managers in November improved dramatically and most of the various benchmark indices reflected this. The Treasury Index, representing Commonwealth bonds, was the best performer after it returned 2.49% for the month. The Composite Index, representing a mix of federal, state and corporate bonds produced the second-highest return, 2.08%, and the Semi-Government Index was next with a return of 1.94%. The return of the Corporate Bond Index was substantially less at 1.05% and the FRN Index returned -0.02%.

31 out of 33 managers in the YieldReport survey produced positive results and the month’s median return was 1.95%.

The Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Institutional) produced a return of 2.57%, thus making it the highest performing fund in the November survey. The Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund’s return of 2.47% was the second highest for the month while the Pendal Government Bond Fund was just behind it with a return of 2.46%.

On a 12-month basis, the Realm Strategic Income Fund (Enduring Units) retained its title as the highest performing fund in November. The Realm fund returned 5.82% while the next highest return came from the Alexander fund with a return of 5.37%. The Alpha Enhanced Yield Fund had the third-highest 12-month performance with a return of 3.62%.

AUSTRALIAN FIXED INTEREST	ASX mFund	1m (%)	3m (%)	1y (%)	3y (%)	5y (%)
Advance Aus Fixed Intr Multi-Blend		2.05	-3.22	-3.85	2.48	2.19
AMP Capital Corporate Bond	ACA02	-0.02	-0.41	0.97	2.33	2.60
Alexander Credit Opportunities Fund		0.37	1.09	5.37	4.57	5.09
Alpha Enhanced Yield	IWM05	1.28	0.26	3.62	1.00	1.07
AMP Flex Lifetime S2-AMP Australian Bond		1.92	-3.15	-3.59	2.95	2.65
AMP Generations BlackRock Aust Fixed Interest Index		1.97	-3.29	-4.32	2.15	2.10
Altius Bond Fund		0.67	-1.55	-2.93	0.86	1.42
Artesian Corporate Bond Fund		-0.10	-0.71	0.61	2.62	n/a
Pendal Enhanced Credit (Wholesale)		0.94	-2.61	-2.02	3.33	3.38
BT Fixed Interest Retail		2.08	-2.88	-3.63	2.56	2.31
Pendal Fixed Interest (Wholesale)		2.17	-3.06	-4.01	3.25	2.97
Pendal Government Bond		2.46	-2.91	-3.52	3.68	3.44
CFS Aberdeen Australian Fixed Interest		1.89	-3.42	-3.87	2.23	2.14
CFS Wholesale Australian Bond		1.91	-2.85	-3.29	3.49	3.10
DDH Fixed Interest		1.95	-3.12	-3.36	3.48	3.21
Spectrum Strategic Income	SPE01	0.15	0.03	1.78	2.65	3.30
Jamieson Coote Bonds Active		2.44	-3.53	-4.09	3.32	3.23
Legg Mason Western Asset Australian Bond Trust	LMA04	2.03	-3.12	-3.28	3.49	3.47
Macquarie Australian Fixed Interest		2.30	-3.17	-3.38	3.49	3.39
Mercer Australian Sovereign Bond Fund		2.47	-3.26	-3.89	3.51	3.32
Nikko AM Australian Bond		2.08	-3.07	-3.42	3.53	3.46
Henderson Australian Fixed Interest (Inst)		2.57	-2.82	-2.79	3.91	3.71
Henderson Tactical Income		0.51	0.15	0.20	2.49	2.69
Perpetual WFIA-Schroder Fixed Income		1.85	-3.73	-3.06	3.10	2.56
Perpetual WFIA-Vanguard Aust Fixed Interest Index		2.04	-3.06	-3.54	2.31	2.15
PIMCO Australian Bond (Wholesale)	PMF04	1.72	-3.39	-3.40	3.14	3.05
PIMCO Australian Focus (Wholesale)	PMF05	0.80	-1.91	-2.15	2.31	2.48
Realm High Income (Wholesale)		0.57	0.06	3.08	4.60	4.08
Realm Strategic Income - Enduring Units		0.48	1.44	5.82	n/a	n/a
SSgA Australian Fixed Income		2.06	-3.09	-3.39	3.21	3.16
UBS Australian Bond Fund		2.03	-3.23	-3.69	3.03	3.16
Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index	UAM04	2.08	-3.04	-3.44	3.12	3.09
Vanguard Australian Govt Bond Index		2.33	-3.17	-3.66	3.25	3.10
Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+YR AUD		2.08	-3.04	-3.23	3.34	3.30

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