Investing in Fixed Income

We combine deep, local market expertise with top-down, macroeconomic research to create a robust, repeatable investment process that's been tested throughout the credit cycle. Our portfolio managers have access to all this research, and the expertise of our trading and engineering teams, at all times.

Over time, rising prices can erode the value of savings and investments. Inflation-linked bonds are fixed income securities designed to limit the impact of inflation on investors’ capital by linking the bond's principal and interest payments to a measure of inflation.

We seek highly-rated bonds with the potential to add valuable portfolio diversification. Our investment teams actively manage asset allocation based on AXA IM’s strong research capabilities, with the aim of generating repeatable performance over the economic cycle.

Our diversified and active approach to capturing opportunities in global fixed income aims to outperform an aggregate benchmark. The strategy is managed by a dedicated team with over 25 years’ experience in aggregate investing, supported by specialised local credit teams.

Increased liquidity in portfolios can help to ride out economic uncertainties. We've run cash portfolios for 25+ years.* We invest in a diverse portfolio of issuers, sectors, countries, and maturities, with rigorous liquidity management as a key priority.

*Source: AXA IM as at 30.06.21

Short duration bonds are ideal for investors looking for regular cashflow to reinvest. We generally invest in bonds with maturities of five years or less and seek to capture high current income with low overall volatility.

We aim to deliver portfolio performance with a low correlation to both interest rate and credit risk. Rather than relying on benchmark allocations, we invest based on defined risk categories and seek returns from a diverse set of fixed income strategies.

High yield bonds typically offer investors higher income to compensate for the risk of the lower credit rating, providing a higher potential return option than lower-risk fixed income markets. We believe that the key to achieving potential attractive returns within high yield is to compound income and avoid capital loss.

Emerging markets are quickly becoming drivers of global growth and are home to some of the world's most innovative companies. Our emerging markets team focuses on income generation, while attempting to mitigate risk, and aim for attractive returns through a conviction-based, long-term investment approach.

Our Buy and Maintain strategy aims to mitigate downside investment risk through a high level of diversification across sectors, regions, and issuers.