Columbia Threadneedle Investments is proud to have received the Multi-Asset Fund of the Year award, recognising the CT Pyrford Global Absolute Return Fund for its consistent performance since inception and disciplined investment approach. The Fund is managed by Pyrford International, an independent autonomous investment boutique founded in 1987 and wholly owned by Columbia Threadneedle Investments.
The CT Pyrford Global Absolute Return Fund (‘Fund’) has delivered strong, consistent performance since inception. What have been the key drivers behind this long-term success, particularly in terms of risk-adjusted returns and capital preservation?
Pyrford is an investment manager with one objective – we aim to provide superior long-term real returns for our clients, with low absolute volatility and significant downside protection. Since its inception, the track record of the CT Pyrford Global Absolute Return Fund is testament to this approach. Historically the Fund has delivered consistent returns to investors, whilst weathering a variety of market conditions.
The goal of capital preservation is at the centre of our investment philosophy and process. We pride ourselves on having an extremely disciplined and long-established investment methodology, rooted in fundamentals.
Additionally, Pyrford maintains full independence in our investment process, which is managed by a stable 13-strong investment team who has worked together for close to twenty years. The team is led by senior key decision makers with 31 years of industry experience on average. At the same time, we also benefit from the operational strength and institutional backing of Columbia Threadneedle Investments. This combination of boutique autonomy with large-scale infrastructure allows the team to concentrate on what matters most – delivering risk-aware, reliable returns to investors over time.
In a crowded multi-asset landscape, what differentiates Pyrford’s absolute return philosophy from competitors, especially in how you manage downside risk and volatility?
Our philosophy and process targets a smoother return stream characterised by low downside capture, by placing a focus on the attributes of quality and value in all our investments. Over the long-term, we believe that equities provide the best real returns. However, there can also be lengthy periods where any asset class can deliver poor returns. It is a key skill for an absolute return manager to keep exposures to such assets low during these periods. Being willing to be different from a peer group and general market consensus is an implicit but vital part of our approach.
In the last century, there has only been four calendar years (1931, 1941, 1969 & 2022) in which both global equities and global bonds delivered negative returns. Yet, the Fund generated a positive return of +4.3% (gross of fees) in 2022. How was the portfolio positioned in such a historically rare and challenging environment?
A series of unprecedented events throughout 2022 hit asset prices across all markets. Global growth slowed through 2022 on fiscal and monetary tightening, China’s Covid restrictions and property slump, and the Russia-Ukraine war. This resulted in one of the most difficult years for investors in decades, with both equity and bond markets selling off sharply – a rare double drawdown.
Pyrford’s investment process is anchored by four key drivers of return: strategic asset allocation, careful fixed income selection, disciplined equity selection and currency management. During this challenging market environment, each of these drivers contributed at different points in time and helped the Fund deliver a positive return for the year.
Within our fixed income allocation, we initially took a highly defensive stance by owning short-duration securities to minimise the impact of rising yields on the portfolio, which we believe was inevitable given what we saw as unsustainably low levels. However, as yields began to rise towards the end of the year, we saw greater value in longer-dated bonds and began to gradually increase our duration target.
On the equity side, as markets fell, we took the opportunity to increase our equity exposure in May 2022 from 45% to 50%, and again in June 2022 from 50% to 60%. We remained focused on companies with strong balance sheets and resilient business models – an approach that delivered significant outperformance across both overseas and domestic equities.
How does the Pyrford team continue to innovate and evolve the strategy while remaining true to its disciplined value-based approach?
We believe there is a critical balance between adhering to a consistent process which is well understood and has been tested during periods of volatility, and being open-minded to new ideas and to better ways of doing things. New ideas come from the investment team’s annual travels to every market we cover, subscriptions to independent research and the fresh energy and perspective brought by hiring graduates directly from university. Ways of evolving and enhancing the process are discussed at the investment team’s monthly meetings.
What themes or opportunities are you currently focused on, and how are you positioning the portfolio given ongoing macro uncertainty?
We recognise that both equity and sovereign bond markets can experience long periods of over and under valuation and our goal is to identify these periods and exploit the inevitable correction to ‘fair-value’. This involves extensive and detailed fundamental research allied with a long-term view. As at June 2025, the Fund has 45% in equities, 52% in bonds and 3% in cash. Within the equity portfolio, we have a significant exposure to Asia ex-Japan where we believe markets are not currently reflecting the superior earnings growth their economies could generate.
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About Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset manager, entrusted with $654bn1 on behalf of individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. We have approximately 2,300 people including approximately 550 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia2. We offer our clients a wide range of strategies across equities, fixed income and alternatives, as well as specialist responsible investment capabilities and a comprehensive suite of solutions. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), a leading US-based financial services provider. As part of Ameriprise, we are supported by a large and well-capitalised diversified financial services firm.
1 Ameriprise Q2 2025 results
2 As at 30 June 2025, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Important Information:
This content is intended for institutional / professional investors and financial advisers in Australia only. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Your capital is at risk. This material in this publication is for information only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an order to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments to anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer is not authorised, or to provide investment advice or services. Perpetual Trust Services Limited ABN 48 00 142 049, AFSL No 236648 (“Perpetual”) is the Responsible Entity and issuer of the CT Pyrford Global Absolute Return Fund (“Fund”). Prior to making a decision about whether to acquire, hold or dispose of units in the Fund, you should consider and review the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Target Market Determination (TMD) and Reference Guide (RG) (available at this link) to see if the product is right for you. All investments contain risk and may lose value. This document is accordingly directed at and is available only to those persons in Australia who are wholesale persons (including financial advisers). It must not be passed on or made available to any person who is a retail client for the purposes of the Corporations Act. This document provides general information only and is not intended to provide you with financial advice or take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. To the extent permitted by law, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage as a result of any reliance on this information. Columbia Threadneedle Investments and its directors and employees disclaim all liability of any kind whatsoever in respect of any error or omission or misstatement, whether or not negligent, contained in this document and any person receiving this document should rely and act on that basis and entirely at his / her own risk. The research and analysis included in this document has been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. This document and its contents are proprietary. It may not be reproduced in any form or passed on to any third party without the express written permission of Columbia Threadneedle Investments. This document and its contents have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority. Issued by Threadneedle Investments Singapore (Pte.) Limited [“TIS”], ARBN 600 027 414. TIS is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and relies on Class Order 03/1102 in respect of the financial services it provides to wholesale clients in Australia. This document should only be distributed in Australia to “wholesale clients” as defined in Section 761G of the Corporations Act. TIS is regulated in Singapore (Registration number: 201101559W) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289), which differ from Australian laws.
