358. How flexibility wins in uncertain markets

With fixed income markets facing heightened volatility, this episode dives into how strategic bond fund managers are navigating uncertainty through flexibility and precision. Colin Finlayson, co-manager of the Aegon Strategic Bond fund, highlights the importance of managing duration risk, anticipating yield curve movements, and selecting corporate bonds based on bottom-up fundamentals. We also touch on the implications of tariffs, inflationary pressures, and fiscal policy on bond markets.

What’s covered in this episode: 

• The three drivers of outperformance
• Is there room to take more duration risk? 
• Opportunities in corporate bonds
• The challenging outlook for high yield
• Inflation considerations in the US, Europe and UK
• Initial reactions to tariffs and today’s view
• The importance of flexibility in the fund

More about the fund: The Aegon Strategic Bond fund has a very broad and flexible remit. It invests globally and is a true strategic bond fund that can change its positioning very quickly when necessary. The managers combine longer-term strategic positions with short-term ideas.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.