Not just about duration: the benefits of a multi-factor approach to fixed income

18 September 2018
| By partnerarticle |
image
image
expand image

Duration is a key consideration for bond investors; but it’s far from the whole story, argues James McAlevey, Aviva Investors’ Portfolio Manager, AIMS Fixed Income and Target Return funds.​

All too often, we hear that fixed income investing is ‘all about duration’. Duration – the sensitivity of an asset’s price to movements in interest rates – is certainly an important consideration for anyone investing in the bond markets. But it’s far from being the whole story.

This is a crucial concept for fixed-income investors – especially at a time when duration risks are heightened. In recent years, investors’ appetite for long-dated bonds has driven the overall duration, and subsequent supply, of the bond market to record levels. So, now that the US Federal Reserve has embarked on a rate-hiking cycle and other central banks are retreating from the extraordinary monetary stimulus of the past decade, it’s easy to focus exclusively on the risks posed by rising interest rates. But the bond market is a vast and varied place. It has a multi-factor opportunity set, not just those that hinge on the direction of central-bank policy and thus interest rates.

Read More

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

11 months 1 week ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

11 months 2 weeks ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

11 months 2 weeks ago

A decade in the making, industry bodies have praised the passage of the objective of super on Thursday. ...

1 day 10 hours ago

October’s CPI data is unlikely to sway the RBA’s December monetary policy decision, but those predicting a rate cut in February are now entertaining the possibility of a ...

2 days 8 hours ago

The local super industry now commands more than $4 trillion in assets, boosted by impressive quarterly returns. ...

2 days 9 hours ago