Sanlam FOUR, the boutique investment manager of the Sanlam Group, has boosted the management team behind its Strategic Bond Fund.
Francois Kotze (pictured), who joins Sanlam FOUR from Rathbone Brothers, has been named as assistant manager alongside lead manager Craig Veysey, who has run the Strategic Bond Fund since launch in March 2012. Prior to his role as a fixed income analyst at Rathbones, Kotze was a senior credit and macro analyst at Sanlam Private Investments.
The team behind the Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund also includes macro analyst Matthew Brittain, who joined the Sanlam investment team in 2015.
The Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund delivered a 15.2 per cent return over one year to 30 June 2017, against 6.8 per cent for the IA £ Strategic Bond sector over the same period, according to Trustnet. Over three years, the Fund delivered a return of 27.6 per cent, versus 12.6 per cent for the IA sector. Over five years, the Fund returned 46.7 per cent, against 30.2 per cent for the sector*.
The Fund seeks to provide a total return to investors through an attractive level of monthly income, as well as the potential for capital growth. It invests mainly in attractively priced investment grade government and corporate bonds. The team supplements this with an actively managed tactical overlay strategy. This allows the Fund to maintain its objective of providing a positive total return, and limit downside risks through changing shorter term market conditions.
Craig Veysey, lead manager of the Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund, says: “We are pleased to add Francois to our Strategic Bond Fund team. His addition further boosts our ability to seek out undervalued opportunities, primarily within the higher credit quality bond universe. When we launched the Strategic Bond Fund more than five years ago we understood there was an opportunity to offer investors a differentiated product – offering preservation of capital and an attractive yield, which can be delivered on a monthly basis. We are glad to have delivered on this objective over the past five years.”
Alfio Tagliabue, Chief Executive Officer at Sanlam FOUR, adds: “Sanlam FOUR is renowned for its differentiated active funds and experienced investment teams, each with autonomy to perform within a disciplined framework. We were extremely happy to have the Strategic Bond Fund join our Sanlam FOUR stable of funds earlier this year. Francois’ addition further boosts the impressive team behind this standout strategy.”
