The Income Partners All Seasons Bond Fund invests in a diverse range of public and corporate investment-grade debt seeking income and capital growth and has been a consistent performer.

At least 70% of the portfolio must be Investment Grade, and the portfolio has a weighting towards the Asian region. The use of private credits is interesting, and unconventional asset allocation makes the fund somewhat unique on its own.

The investment strategy and portfolio construction follow Income Partner's consistent and fundamental-led process for bond investment and risk management.

This fund allows the Manager to use derivatives and short positions to manage risk, which helped generate outperformance. During the sell-off in Asian bonds in March 2020, cash was raised, and CDC hedges were employed to manage risk in the portfolio and avoid selling bonds in an illiquid market, supporting performance. Drawdowns are somewhat frequent and significant, and the strategy is not designed for retail investors.

A principles-based ESG policy was introduced in 2019, although ESG remains at the early stages of adoption. The Manager noted it must balance ESG with its fiduciary duty to investors to generate superior, risk-adjusted returns.

This fund has been reviewed by six industry veterans of the Benchmark judging committee.