BGF Asian Tiger Bond E2 |



by Arvind Subramanian

BlackRock has announced that Neeraj Seth, the firm’s head of fundamental fixed income for the Asia-Pacific region and comanager of BGF Asian Tiger Bond, BGF Sustainable Asian Bond, and BGF Asian High Yield Bond, will step down from his portfolio management responsibilities on Nov. 30, 2024, and leave the firm in February 2025. Seth has been with BlackRock since 2009, though his role within the portfolio management team for these strategies was primarily focused on providing investment oversight, without direct involvement in day-to-day decision-making. There are currently no plans to replace Seth on these strategies. Stephen Gough, who was added to the manager lineup in 2023, will continue to lead the top-down positioning and risk budgeting for the Asian fixed-income strategies. Under his leadership, the team has refined its risk-management processes by introducing stop-loss limits and increasing the use of portfolio hedges, which we view positively. Meanwhile, the day-to-day management of the BGF Asian Tiger Bond and BGF Sustainable Asian Bond will remain under the leadership of Venn Saltirov, while Suanjin Tan will continue to lead BGF Asian High Yield Bond. While Seth’s extensive experience in the Asian credit market will be a loss, the team remains well-equipped. The managers are supported by BlackRock’s Asian credit research team, which remains one of the best-resourced groups in the region. We do not anticipate any changes to the investment process following Seth’s departure. As such, our current People and Process ratings for these strategies remain unchanged. |
The impressive research resources backing the managers at BGF Asian Tiger Bond justify an upgrade of its People rating from Average to Above Average. Morningstar has enhanced the way we assess alpha opportunity for funds, which is a key component in our Morningstar Medalist Rating calculation. More of this strategy's Medalist Ratings than usual may therefore change with this update even in the absence of changes to pillar ratings or fund costs. After some upheaval within the management team, the new guard has now settled in, with Stephen Gough, Venn Saltirov, and Yii Hui Wong overseeing this strategy. Gough, a veteran portfolio manager at BlackRock since 2014, joined the manager lineup in 2023, overseeing top-down positioning and risk budgeting across the firm’s Asian fixed-income strategies. He is joined by Saltirov, who brings nearly two decades of investment experience in the Asia credit market, most of which has been with BlackRock. Wong rounds out the team with a specific remit to contribute to the fund’s China exposure. The transition for the new managers has been eased by BlackRock’s formidable 17-member Asia credit research team. This group remains one of the best-resourced in the region and has been further bolstered by the addition of several highly experienced analysts, who have proved to be valuable idea generators for the strategy. This strategy’s investment framework heavily relies on this research team to drive returns through bottom-up credit selection. In response to challenges navigating stress in the Chinese property sector, the team has enhanced its risk management systems, introducing measures such as stop-loss limits and increasing the use of portfolio hedges. These efforts, alongside the team’s focus on diversifying credit bets and identifying bargains in lower-rated segments of the market, have begun to yield positive results, as demonstrated by the fund’s strong rebound in 2024. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
People | Above Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Process | Above Average |
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