ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND

Transcription

1 ASSET MANAGEMENT ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND Quarterly Report 31 March 2018 For professional investors only, not for retail investors

2 Contents CONTENTS ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND 3 2 PAGE

3 Royal London Sterling Extr a Yiel d Bond Fund ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND Executive summary The Fund recorded a return, gross of tax and management fees of the A share class, of 0.00% over the first quarter, outperforming the sterling investment grade corporate bond market, which returned -1.15%. Credit spreads widened during the quarter as a whole; following a strong performance by credit in January, concern about inflation and global protectionism resulted in market volatility that led to a risk off mood among investors over the following two months. The yield on benchmark 10-year gilts climbed 16 basis points (bps) for the quarter as a whole. The Fund s A share income distribution for the first quarter, payable at the end of May, is 1.59p, compared to the 1.79p distributed for the fourth quarter of Performance Fund (Class A) % Fund (Class Z) % Q Year-to-date Rolling 12 months years p.a years p.a years p.a years p.a Since inception p.a Since inception p.a Past performance is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of investments and the income from them is not guaranteed and may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Source: RLAM. Based on the A and Z share class. Performance for the Fund is calculated on a mid basis with income re-invested. The Fund returns in the table above are gross of standard management fees. Fund price and yields Fund (Class A) Fund (Class Z) FTSE Actuaries British Government 15 Years Index Price p p Source: RLAM and State Street. Based on the A and Z share class. ¹Net of standard management charges. Distribution per share (pence per unit) Gross redemption yield¹ 4.92% 5.19% 1.53% Gross income yield¹ 5.47% 5.74% Fund data Fund Duration 5.7 years No. of stocks 201 Fund size 1,617.0m Launch date May February November August 2017 Fund (Class A) Fund (Class Z) Source: RLAM and State Street. 3 PAGE

4 ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND Fund strategy The Fund s objective is to achieve a high level of income by seeking attractive investments across a broad spectrum of fixed income opportunities, encompassing investment grade, sub-investment grade and unrated bonds. The Fund mitigates stock-specific risk by holding a diversified portfolio of investments, so that no individual investment can in isolation have an undue impact on overall performance. In addition, where possible within the yield objective of the Fund, investments are focused on bonds where risk is mitigated by structure or a claim on assets or cashflows. The Fund maintains at least three-quarters of its total assets in sterling-denominated bonds. Currency risk associated with holdings of bonds denominated in other currencies is substantially hedged by forward currency transactions. The average duration of the Fund s portfolio is relatively short, presently almost six years. The sensitivity of the performance of the Fund to changes in gilt yields is therefore relatively modest. Fund commentary The Fund outperformed the broader sterling credit market, helped by robust income generation and capital gains on sales. Financial sectors (bank and insurance) generally performed well in January, including banks Barclays and Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society and insurer Generali. However, these allocations were affected in February and March by the change in sentiment in corporate bond markets. Prices of long-dated insurance bonds, including Legal & General and Scottish Widows, fell around 5% in February after strong performance in recent months, and shorter dated bank bonds including Santander declined about 2% to 3%. Financial sectors remained subdued in March, with holdings including bank Standard Chartered and insurer Phoenix Group dropping about 2%. Within the financial sector, the Fund expanded its holding of Santander UK preference shares at an attractive level to capitalise on a broadly based decline. Financial preference shares fell after insurer Aviva s announcement that they were considering repayment of their preference shares at par, as they considered they could do under company law and the particular terms of their preference shares. After significant interest had been aroused, encompassing the FCA and Parliament, Aviva said it was scrapping the planned repayment. The Fund had no investment in Aviva preference shares. Hybrid bonds where the issuer has the option to defer repayment beyond the first call date but at typically penal cost of utilities EDF and Centrica, and of telecommunications company Orange, also performed well in January. Stock-specific developments included accepting the repurchase tender offer by Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica for their 6.75% 2020 perpetual bonds. These bonds, BB rated and purchased around 100 in mid-2016, represented a little over 1% of total fund assets and were repaid at a price above 111.7, giving up a yield of just 2.2%. While new issue flow slowed amid market volatility, the Fund was able to make investments reflecting a varied spectrum of opportunities. In financials, purchases encompassed a US dollar issue from HSBC offering a 6.25% coupon and 5.375% coupon secured sterling bonds of specialist residential bridging finance company LendInvest. In the energy sector, the Fund bought 8.5% coupon bonds of Point Resources, the North Sea oil company operating the suite of assets previously owned by ExxonMobil, as well as a new issue from UK offshore oil business Siccar Point Energy. Elsewhere, the Fund purchased a new euro denominated bond of CIPP Technology, the infrastructure support company, paying 8% above money market rates for three years and an issue from tanker business Chembulk Holdings. In the secondary market, purchases included financials Virgin Money and Just Retirement Group, pub company Enterprise Inns and retailer Co-op Wholesale Society. The Fund also initiated a position in media company Daily Mail and General Trust. Other purchases included Norwegian krone bonds of ML 33, backed by lease obligations for energy company Statoil s main Oslo office, and senior structured bonds of UK motoring services group AA, after a sharp setback in price on news of a revised medium term business plan which triggered a collapse in the issuer s equity. The Fund s sale of bonds of insurer Prudential crystallised a large capital profit on part of the holding which had been bought in market weakness in early The sale of dollar denominated bonds of bank RBS also established significant capital gains. Sales in February included short-dated bonds, among them structured bonds of PFI deal Road Management, together with hybrid bonds of issuers including mining company BHP and laboratory analysis business Eurofins Scientific. The Fund also sold subordinated bonds of French insurance company AXA, Australian insurer QBE and TSB Banking Group. 4 PAGE

5 ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND Sector breakdown Maturity profile Credit breakdown Ten largest bond holdings Weighting (%) Enterprise Inns 6.375% Electricité De France 5.875% VRN Perpetual 2.3 Amedeo Air Four Plus 8.25% 2.1 Premiertel 6.175% Centrica Plc 5.25% VRN Investec Bank Plc 9.625% Electricité De France 6% VRN Perpetual 1.6 Heathrow Finance Plc 3.875% Santander UK % Perpetual 1.6 Intergen 7.5% Total PAGE

6 ROYAL LONDON STERLING EXTRA YIELD BOND FUND IMPORTANT INFORMATION For professional investors and advisors only. This document may not be distributed to any unauthorised persons and is not suitable for retail clients. The views expressed are the author s own and do not constitute investment advice. This document is a financial promotion. It does not provide, and should not be relied on for, accounting, legal or tax advice, or investment recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and the income from them is not guaranteed and may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Sub-investment grade bonds have characteristics which may result in a higher probability of default than investment grade bonds and therefore a higher risk. For funds that use derivatives, their use may be beneficial, however, they also involve specific risks. Derivatives may alter the economic exposure of a fund over time, causing it to deviate from the performance of the broader market. All rights in the FTSE Actuaries British Government 15 Years Index (the Index ) vest in FTSE International Limited ( FTSE ). FTSE is a trade mark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies and is used by FTSE under licence. The Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bond Fund (the "Fund") has been developed solely by Royal London Asset Management. The Index is calculated by FTSE or its agent. FTSE and its licensors are not connected to and do not sponsor, advise, recommend, endorse or promote the Fund and do not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of, reliance on or any error in the Index or (b) investment in or operation of the Fund. FTSE makes no claim, prediction, warranty or representation either as to the results to be obtained from the Fund or the suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put by Royal London Asset Management. All confidential information relating to any Royal London Group company must be treated by you in the strictest confidence. It may only be used for the purposes of assessing the proposal to engage Royal London Asset Management Limited (RLAM). Confidential information should not be disclosed to any third party and should only be disclosed to those of your employees and professional advisers who are required to see such information for the purpose set out above. You should ensure that these persons are made aware of the confidential nature of such information and treat it accordingly. You agree to return and/ or destroy all confidential information on receipt of our written request to do so. Financial promotion issued by Royal London Asset Management April Information correct at that date unless otherwise stated. Royal London Asset Management Limited, registered in England and Wales number ; Royal London Unit Trust Managers Limited, registered in England and Wales number RLUM Limited, registered in England and Wales number All of these companies are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. All of these companies are subsidiaries of The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, registered in England and Wales number Registered Office: 55 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0RL. The marketing brand also includes Royal London Asset Management Bond Funds Plc, an umbrella company with segregated liability between sub-funds, authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, registered in Ireland number Registered office: 70 Sir John Rogerson s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland. FQR RLAM EM PAGE