BlueBay Investment Grade Bd M EUR |



by Evangelia Gkeka

We were informed by RBC BlueBay that it is planning to implement a number of portfolio manager additions on several different funds as part of proactive succession planning and in recognition of the contributions of the different individuals to the investment process of these funds. Harrison Hill has been added as comanager of BlueBay Investment Grade Bond Fund effective April 7, 2025. Hill joined the firm in 2015 and has been part of the investment-grade credit team since August 2018. He has been a strong contributor to the platform and has been named portfolio manager on another investment-grade product, the Impact-Aligned Bond, since 2021. It is positive to see that the firm is promoting individuals in recognition of their contribution. Co-lead managers Tom Moulds (European corporates specialist) and Marc Stacey (specializing in EU financials) remain in place and continue to lead the portfolio construction process. Andrzej Skiba also remains in place as comanager, providing support on the US credit side. Our overall conviction on the team is based on the level of experience of the portfolio managers, their complementary backgrounds, team stability and experience, and tenure of the credit analyst team. We maintain our People Pillar rating at Above Average. |
BlueBay Investment Grade Bond benefits from continuity in both its consistent investment approach and the experienced portfolio management team. As such, the People and Process pillar ratings have been retained at Above Average and High, respectively. Marc Stacey and Tom Moulds are co-leads, while Andrzej Skiba has been involved in the US bottom-up and top-down calls since 2008. Stacey joined BlueBay in 2004 and became comanager here in August 2013, while Moulds joined in 2005 and became comanager in 2016. Raphael Robelin was lead portfolio manager from November 2003 until December 2017. He gradually became less involved in day-to-day management from 2013 when he became co-CIO. In 2015, when Robelin was appointed sole CIO, day-to-day portfolio management was transferred to the current team. The strategy aims to outperform the iBoxx Euro Corporate Index by 150 basis points per year before fees, with a credit alpha security selection target of 100 basis points and top-down drivers such as term structure (duration management using interest-rate futures and swaps) and credit beta (using credit default swaps) targeting 25 basis points alpha each. Duration is kept within a year of the benchmark. The investment process utilizes a wide range of internal resources, including three portfolio managers, each specializing in a particular credit sector; seven macro specialists supporting the top-down calls; and nine experienced credit analysts. The complementary skill sets of the portfolio managers combined with the level of experience and active involvement with the analyst teams across research, idea generation, and specific trade recommendations drive our positive view here. Since 2013, when two of the three portfolio managers took over, up to end-March 2024, the strategy outperformed its EUR corporate bond Morningstar Category peers and the Morningstar Eurozone Corporate Bond Index on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis. After underperforming during the 2014-16 period, relative performance significantly improved in subsequent years as the strategy recorded top-quartile performance in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021. In 2022, the strategy declined by 14.5% and lagged its peers by 1.2% and the category index by 0.9%. The main detractor was credit beta, as the strategy's long risk profile on a beta-adjusted basis detracted during the sharp market selloff. Security selection also detracted, predominantly within senior banks and real estate. The fund recorded first-quartile performance within its peer group in 2023 as its long risk exposure in rising markets, the overweighting and credit selection in senior banks, and the overweightings in defensive sectors such as utilities and healthcare added alpha. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
People | Above Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Process | High |
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