Winner
Templeton Global Bond Plus
Finalists
Blackrock International Bond Fund
PIMCO EQT Diversified Fixed Interest Fund
Adopting an unconstrained approach opens up many opportunities, along with the ability to pick investments – particularly those going against trend – and stick with them to fruition, has been key to the Templeton Global Bond Plus winning the Fixed Interest – Diversified category award.
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income group chief investment officer global bonds, Dr Michael Hasenstab, said the investment team had positioned the fund to generate returns in a rising interest rate environment and had maintained a short duration across all its strategies.
He said while a combination of bottom-up research, deep country analysis, and macro-modeling was instrumental in identifying investments, it was the willingness to take a contrarian view that generated the greatest value for investors.
"Our benchmark-unconstrained approach allows our investment team to look past short-term market noise and take advantage of markets that have become disconnected from longer-term fundamentals," Hasenstab said.
"We believe this enables us to build a more diversified portfolio because we seek opportunities that offer the most attractive risk-adjusted returns, rather than focusing on returns relative to a benchmark index."
A 'no surprises' policy in terms of its investment policy and performance – and an investment team which aims to "try and make a little bit of money a lot of times" – are factors Blackrock head of fixed income Steve Miller nominates for the Blackrock International Bond Fund being named a finalist in this category.
Miller said the fund's main objective had been to direct research into uncorrelated active risk positions and eschew macro or sector bets, while ensuring these positions were complementary with other risk positions in the portfolio.
PIMCO managing director Rob Mead said taking a long-term approach and avoiding day-to-day noise was key to the PIMCO EQT Diversified Fixed Interest Fund becoming a finalist.
"We look at what is likely to happen in the medium term and have adopted a secular approach, which has contributed to our disciplined approach that has avoided the 'group think' which can take place in markets," Mead said.
