The biggest bond bets the pros are making

After a grim 2022, there has been plenty to like in fixed-income markets over the past 18 months or more: high income, a gentle tailwind from falling inflation, a benign economic environment with minimal defaults. Investors have been able to sit back, relax, and collect their coupons. However, there are signs that this cheery outlook may be at risk.

For some time, the assumption has been that inflation would continue to drop, giving central banks scope to cut interest rates. This is good news for bond market prices. At the same time, policymakers across the US, Europe and UK appeared to have engineered a “soft landing” for their economies, making recession – and therefore a rise in default rates for companies – unlikely.

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There are now a number of risks to those assumptions. It is not at all clear that inflation will drop much further from here, Moreover, if Donald Trump in his second term in the White House delivers on his promises of reduced immigration, tax cuts and tariffs, prices could start to edge higher. Even though interest rates are dropping, longer-dated bond yields are still rising because the markets believe inflation may revive.

Corporate bond spreads – the “reward” investors receive for taking a risk on a corporate bond rather than a government bond – are at their lowest level since the 1990s and seem to imply little risk of default. While there is no immediate risk of recession, there are concerns that the bond market is complacent about the risks in the global economy. Is this really the strongest environment for 30 years?  

This is a more fragile backdrop for bonds and, as a result, fund managers are being more careful in their allocation. Even in tougher environments, bond fund managers have a range of levers to generate returns. They can vary the interest-rate sensitivity of a portfolio. In general, longer-dated bonds are more sensitive to interest rates than shorter-dated bonds, so if a fund manager wants to ensure that they are not exposed to variations in interest rates, they will tend to prefer shorter-dated bonds.

They can also be careful on their credit selection. Even if valuations for the corporate bond market look ambitious, there will be sectors and individual bonds that look better value. Fund managers can also look at different regions – euro-denominated bonds may be better value than dollar-denominated bonds, for example. They can also take advantage of short-term volatility, and bond markets have been particularly “noisy” over the past year.

Interest rate exposure

Many bond fund managers are now reducing the interest-rate sensitivity of their portfolio by targeting shorter-dated bonds. Nicolas Trindade, senior portfolio manager with the Active Sterling Credit team at AXA Investment Management, says: “We see value at the shorter-dated end of fixed-income markets. There is not much incentive to move into longer-dated bonds because we aren’t getting any additional yield.” He says this is true in both government and corporate bond markets.

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He believes that longer-dated bonds could start to lose value. At the moment, the market is implying that interest rates aren’t likely to be any higher in future than they are today. Trindade believes this will change – short-term rate expectations are likely to fall as central banks cut rates, while longer-dated bonds are likely to rise as government borrowing rises.

A rise in government borrowing is the inevitable consequence of social shifts, such as an ageing population, defence spending and climate transition, says Trindade: “Most of that government borrowing will be done at medium or longer-term rates. That will be a technical factor pushing long-term rates higher.” In the US, the burgeoning budget deficit will require a lot of issuance as well.

Kaspar Hense, senior portfolio manager in the investment grade team at RBC Bluebay, is also positioned for rising yields (and falling prices) among longer-dated bonds, believing that Trump policies delay any rally in yields. He thinks yields on 30-year Treasuries could reach 4.75%-5.00% before the end of the year from their current level of 4.6%.

He also sees some difficulties in the UK, with the requirement for higher wages in the public sector weighing on inflation. He thinks inflation could be as high as 3% over the next two years, with wages the major contributor. This will put pressure on longer-dated bonds.

Donald Trump with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Credit: Jeff Bottari/Contributor/Getty Images

Credit selection

The current caution among fixed-income managers is also evident in careful credit selection. Trindade is looking at bank bonds, which are trading at wider spreads than other corporate bonds, but also in distressed areas such as the UK water sector. “We need to do our credit work, but Thames Water’s problems have hit the whole sector. It’s a re-run of real estate sector in 2022 where you have a couple of bad apples and that hurts everyone.”

Tom Hanson, fund manager on the Aegon High Yield Bond fund, is taking a similarly cautious and selective approach. He says: “We are focused on some higher-quality, higher yielding, short-dated bonds. It's about shutting up shop, and holding as much as possible in defensive income-generative bonds.”

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He says they are looking at individual credits, and the structure of each bond, adding, “it is possible to own a very short-dated bond in what seems to be a very cyclical sector. We have an overweight to real estate companies, which is a relatively recent position and have been careful to avoid areas such as autos, which have been weak.”

Hanson is also being careful on the fund’s country positioning. For example, he has a higher weighting in Europe relative to the US and also some exposure to emerging markets. He is also finding a lot of cheaper bonds in the UK. “International buyers aren’t that interested in the UK. Ever since 2016, there has been a risk premium put on the UK. That creates opportunity. Bonds are dated capital. An equity can stay cheap forever, but with a bond, all you need is the maturity date to come around.”

Wary of Trump effect

Aza Teeuwen, manager on the TwentyFour Income Ord (LSE:TFIF) fund, says there are nerves around the Trump effect: “We are sticking close to home, and staying in shorter-dated assets. We have moved into higher-quality and more liquid bonds. We’re not necessarily nervous around defaults, but if we’ve learned anything, it’s that markets can be volatile.” Among the highest weightings in the group’s MI TwentyFour AM Dynamic Bond fund are Nationwide, Barclays and Phoenix Group bonds.

The group also favours asset-backed securities (ABS), where yields are higher. This part of the market is floating rather than fixed rate, so had been expected to do badly as interest rates fell, but as interest rate expectations have been revised higher, the sector has done well.

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Shalin Shah, senior fund manager on the Royal London Corporate Bond fund is also targeting the ABS market. It is a relatively small part of the major bond indices, so it is not an option for all investors. He says: “A lot of money is commoditised in corporate bonds. A lot of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) need to buy on ratings and issue sizes. This creates anomalies and can stretch valuations in the well-known companies.” The ABS market suffers from the opposite effect, and this makes yields more attractive.

He says that investors need to be careful on covenants, and how much protection they get if a bond defaults. He says: “Ratings only tell you the likelihood of default. They don’t tell you how much you get if something starts to go wrong.” The team prefers allocations to secured debt, which sits higher up the capital structure in a company. This gives them a seat at the table in the event of a default. Like TwentyFour, Royal London Asset Management favours the financial sector with HSBC, M&G, Aviva and Legal & General bonds among the top 10 holdings on the fund.

Fixed-income managers are cautious, sticking with shorter-dated bonds where interest rate risks are lowest, and being extremely selective on the type of corporate bonds they hold, and the countries they hold them in. They are looking at ABS, or financial bonds, where valuations look more appealing and they can secure a higher income. This is a fragile moment for fixed-income markets and selectivity is increasingly important.