Global Balanced Income Fund

The Fund seeks to provide stable, long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of local and international bonds, equities and other income-generating assets. The Investment Manager shall diversify the assets of the Fund among different asset classes. The manager may invest in both Investment Grade and High Yield bonds rated at the time of investment at least “B-” by S&P, or in bonds determined to be of comparable quality, provided that the Fund may invest up 10% in non-rated bonds, whilst maintain an exposure to direct rated bonds of at least 25% of the value of the Fund. Investments in equities may include but are not limited to dividend-paying securities, equities, exchange traded funds as well as through the use of Collective Investment Schemes.

The Investment Manager of the CC High Income Bond Funds – EUR and USD has the duty to ensure that the underlying investments of the funds are well diversified. According to the prospectus, the investment manager has to abide by a number of investment restrictions to safeguard the value of the assets

• We shall invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of listed transferable securities across a wide spectrum of industries and sectors primarily via bonds, equities and eligible ETFs. We may invest in these asset classes either directly or indirectly through UCITS Funds and/ or eligible non UCITS Funds
• We intend to diversify the assets of the Sub-Fund broadly among countries, industries and sectors, but reserve the right to invest a substantial portion of the Sub-Fund’s assets in one or more countries (or regions) if economic and business conditions warrant such investments
• Investments in equity securities may include, but are not limited to, dividend-paying securities, equities, ETFs and preferred shares of global issuers. At our discretion, we may also invest indirectly in equities and equity-related instruments through the use of collective investment schemes. The Sub-Fund will generally, but not exclusively, invest in blue chip issuers listed on Approved Regulated Markets, including equities listed on the Malta Stock Exchange, where applicable
• We shall manage the credit risk and will aim to manage interest rate risk through credit analysis and credit diversity. We may invest in both investment grade (corporate and sovereign) and high yield bonds that have a credit rating of at least “B-” by S&P (or rating equivalent issued by other reputable rating agencies) at the time of investment, provided that the Sub-Fund may invest a maximum of 10% of its assets in non-rated debt securities, including those listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. We will, at all times, maintain an exposure to direct rated bonds, whether investment grade or high yield, of at least 25% of the value of the Sub-Fund
• For temporary or defensive purposes, the Sub-Fund may invest in short-term fixed income instruments, money market funds, cash and cash equivalents. The Sub-Fund may also hold cash and cash equivalents on an ancillary basis or cash management purposes, pending investment in accordance with its Investment Policy and to meet operating expenses and redemption requests.The Sub-Fund may invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) via UCITS-eligible ETFs and/or CIS and securities related to real assets (including but not limited to real estate, agriculture, and precious metals-related securities) such as equities, bonds, and ETFs as well as CISs as long as these constitute eligible assets under the UCITS Directive
• The Sub-Fund may invest in options, futures and forwards for risk management and hedging purposes only (“Hedging Instruments”)
• Other than any margins required for these Hedging Instruments, the Sub-Fund will not employ leverage

April 2021

US equities made solid gains in April. Economic data was encouraging overall. Q1 GDP growth of 6.4% (quarter on quarter, annualised) narrowly missed expectations of 6.7%, and the trade deficit widened. Even so, aggregate business activity – as measured by the composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI – an index of business activity based on a survey of private companies in the manufacturing and services sectors) – climbed to 59.7 in March. The gain was led by the service sector, signalling the biggest uptick since 2014. Consumer confidence, while still below its pre-pandemic level, also rose strongly. Meanwhile, 70% of the US population has now had at least one shot of the vaccine.

And while the recent data have been encouraging, the policy environment is set to stay highly accommodative for some time. President Biden has followed up his $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus bill with a proposed $2 trillion in infrastructure and manufacturing subsidies. The Federal Reserve also confirmed its willingness to run the economy “hot” – or above the long-term inflation target – to the support economic recovery and full employment. It further stated it expects its targets for stable economic growth are still “some time” away and that asset purchases would continue until then.  

Investor sentiment was supported by the combined economic and policy backdrops, but also a robust earnings season. Big tech firms were particularly strong – the combined revenues of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft jumped 41% in Q1. Consumer discretionary stocks were also buoyant, tallying with rising consumer confidence. Energy and consumer staples lagged the wider index with weaker aggregate gains.

Eurozone shares also gained in April. After the outperformance of lowly valued parts of the market in recent months, higher growth areas tended to perform better in April. At sector level, information technology was among the top performers along with real estate and consumer staples. Energy registered a negative return. Within the consumer discretionary sector, automotive stocks saw some profit-taking after March’s strong gains, while luxury goods fared well. The Q1 earnings season began on a positive note. In particular, several banks have been able to reduce reserves, or lower provisioning levels, because government and central bank support has so far averted a wave of bad loans.

Several countries, including Germany, continued to battle rising Covid-19 infections. However, rates slowed in Italy, enabling the government to loosen restrictions in some regions. Many eurozone countries began to speed up the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines. Germany’s constitutional court rejected an appeal against the EU recovery fund, which is set to be disbursed from July.

GDP data showed the eurozone economy contracted by 0.6% in Q1. Forward-looking data was more encouraging with the manufacturing PMI survey reaching a new record high of 63.4. Eurozone annual inflation was estimated at 1.6% for April, up from 1.3% in March. However, the core measure, which excludes energy prices, was up just 0.8%. The European Central Bank had quickened the pace of its asset purchases in March, due to the renewed wave of the virus, and confirmed in April that it would maintain this pace so as to avoid a rise in borrowing costs that could jeopardise the economic recovery. 

Emerging market equities recorded a gain in April aided by dollar weakness but underperformed developed markets. Covid-19 continues to be a concern in several EM, with India suffering a notable surge in cases during the month, while the pace of vaccinations in many EM remains slow.

In the bond market, yields on Europe’s most sought after benchmark; the 10-year German Bund, closed marginally lower than the previous month at -0.206% compared to -0.292% the previous month. Conversely, Italy’s 10-year sovereign yield closed the month wider at 0.858% compared to 0.663% in March, and the Spanish 10-year closed 1 bps wider at 0.475%.

Within the high yield asset space, U.S. high yield under performed better than its European counterparts, returning 1% compared to 0.6% returned in Europe. The asset class continued to benefit from the stimulus package and fed commitment to maintain rates low for the foreseeable future.

US Treasuries ended a run of 4 consecutive monthly declines as they rose 0.8% in April. That came as the Fed continued to reassure investors that they were in no rush to roll back monetary stimulus, and wanted to see actual rather than just forecasted progress. Yields on 10yr US Treasuries ended the month -11.5bps lower, which is the biggest monthly decline since last July.

The Investment Manager believes that with equity markets having risen significantly over the last year, the gains from here are likely to be at a slower pace and with some bumps in the road. However, assuming the vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalisation against all variants of the virus, growth should be set to boom as soon as restrictions can be lifted. Against that backdrop, the Investment Manager remains positive on the outlook for equities.