Managers of income-focused multi-manager funds raised their investment grade bond exposure in the first quarter of 2018, with the average weighting up by 2.9 percentage points to 19.7% - a four-year high.
Research from Harrington Cooper shows that bonds were "a surprise winner" during the three-month period, which saw gilt yields climb on the back of a sell-off in global bonds as investors grew bullish on the world economy and prepared for increasing inflationary pressures and tighter monetary policy. In mid-February 10-year gilt yields peaked at 1.7% before falling back to 1.4% at the end of March. Allocations to investment grade bonds also reached a four-year high across balanced funds, rising by 1.4% to 12.8%, taking overall fixed income exposure higher. Justin Urquhart Stewart...
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