AXAWF Global High Yield Bds E Cap EUR H

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|17/10/2023

by Evangelia Gkeka
AXA Global High Yield Bond offers investors exposure to a differentiated and historically well-executed approach to high-yield investing.

The strategy was managed by Carl Whitbeck and James Gledhill from July 2012 to July 2021. The summer of 2021 saw Whitbeck’s untimely passing. He was based in Connecticut and responsible for U.S. high-yield exposure; he was also managing AXAWF U.S. High Yield Bond. Gledhill was based in London and responsible for the portfolio's European high-yield exposure.

Since August 2021 and after Whitbeck’s death and Gledhill’s departure, the portfolio managers/credit analysts who supported them in the day-to-day management of the portfolios took over leadership.

Michael Graham, who joined AXA in 2007 and worked alongside Whitbeck since then, has been appointed head of U.S. high yield and is now lead manager. Graham is supported by Robert Houle, U.S. high-yield portfolio manager and member of the team since 2005, and Yves Berger, who joined the firm in 2007 and is a portfolio manager focusing on European high yield. In January 2022 Chris Ellis joined from Artemis as a portfolio manager on the European high-yield side. The team also has access to an experienced high-yield credit analyst team of 11 (seven in the United States, four in the United Kingdom) plus the wider credit resources of AXA.

The team’s structured and well-executed approach is based on capturing income from high-yield bonds while avoiding principal loss. The process is largely driven by bottom-up fundamental analysis. Portfolio positioning is implemented through a barbell approach combining weaker (B to CCC) credits with short-maturity bonds, a differentiated process. Geographic allocation and sector exposure are secondary drivers, with the latter generally reflecting the team's preference for companies with stable business models and predictable cash flows.

The strategy has consistently outperformed its peers on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis, providing evidence that the process has added value over the long term. During a very difficult 2022, the strategy outperformed both its peers and Morningstar Category index. An overweighting in the defensive shortest-duration segment of the market and an underweighting in better-quality longer-duration helped, as did security selection in the highest-yielding segment of the market, positive selection in healthcare and real estate, and an overweighting in services.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™Continued execution of the process under new leadership.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PeopleAverage
ParentAverage
ProcessAbove Average
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
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