Sanlam’s Strategic Bond Fund is moving to its boutique investment manager Sanlam FOUR.
Craig Veysey (pictured), the manager of the Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund and current head of fixed income at Sanlam Private Wealth, will move over to Sanlam FOUR, joining the GBP4.3 billion boutique’s current group of fund managers.
Veysey, who has more than 17 years of investment experience, has managed the Sanlam Strategic Bond Fund since its launch in March 2012. Prior to this, he managed global bond funds and other bond portfolios at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, WestLB Mellon Asset Management and HSBC Investment Management.
Alfio Tagliabue, chief executive officer at Sanlam FOUR, says: “Sanlam FOUR is renowned for its differentiated active funds and experienced investment teams, each with autonomy to perform within a disciplined framework. I am very happy to welcome Craig to the team. The Strategic Bond Fund will be a great addition to the Sanlam FOUR range of funds, with the strategy delivering strong performance and consistent income since its launch almost five years ago, in addition to successfully navigating the tricky environment in 2016.”
Sanlam’s Strategic Bond Fund has delivered a 38.6 per cent return since inception to 31 December 2016, against 26.8 per cent for the IA GBP Strategic Bond sector over the same period, according to Morningstar. The fund also delivered 10.3 per cent against the peer group’s return of 7.0 per cent for the year 2016.
The Sanlam Strategic Bond 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. Additionally, it may invest up to 20 per cent in high yield bonds, and have a non-sterling unhedged currency exposure up to 20 per cent.
While the fund’s core positions typically comprise 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the portfolio, the manager supplements this with an actively managed tactical overlay strategy. This approach seeks to allow the fund to maintain its objective of providing a positive total return, and limit downside risks through changing shorter term market conditions.
Veysey says: “We took a hard look at the strategic bond sector almost five years ago and realised there was an opportunity for a differentiated product. We believe investors want preservation of capital from their bond investments but still with an attractive yield, which can be delivered on a monthly basis. The fund’s active approach to investing in undervalued bonds across the mainly higher credit quality bond universe has allowed it to deliver sector-leading returns with low volatility.”
While government bond yields have risen considerably in recent months on rising inflationary expectations, particularly following the election of Donald Trump, the manager believes there is still considerable opportunity given the potential for disappointment on global growth and the current elevated government and household debt levels.
Veysey adds: “As we have found in recent years, expectations and reality have often diverged significantly in government bond yields, and we will need to see considerable further evidence to the contrary to become bearish more generally on government bonds.”