Our funds
Our investment capabilities
We manage actively according to a rigorous investment process that has stood the test of time. Our approach combines in-depth fundamental research and reliable quantitative tools. This allows our team to seize global opportunities wherever they arise and to meet our clients’ return expectations.
Fund range
Global Short-Dated Opportunities
Short-term bond fund for investors seeking a yield higher than that of money market funds over one year or more.
Global Bond Opportunities
Unconstrained global bond fund intended as a core fixed income holding for investors with a time horizon of three years or more.
Global Macro Opportunities
Global macro fund combining a bond portfolio with a liquid equity and commodities overlay. For investors seeking high returns and having a time horizon of three years or more.
Global High Yielding Opportunities
High-yielding global unconstrained fixed income fund for investors comfortable with the volatility of high-yield bonds and whose time horizon is three years or more.
Our performance
Our various track records confirm our managers’ ability to generate performance over the long run while minimising downside risk.
The GAMA investment philosophy
We believe that harnessing the varying return opportunities created by ever-changing financial markets and generating consistent outperformance requires active opportunistic unconstrained strategies managed by a focused, highly experienced team which follows a rigorous investment process combining fundamental research and proprietary quantitative models.
Investment process
Our investment process is structured in three phases. We begin by formulating our active investment strategy. We then implement it in all products through a five-step portfolio construction sequence. Finally, we use our risk management expertise to control each portfolio’s risk.
Strategy generation
Fundamental analysis is the starting point of our strategy generation. At the macro level, we assess the extent to which consensus expectations for growth and inflation are priced in by financial markets. We also look closely at monetary policy. At the micro level, we assess company fundamentals. In addition to fundamentals, we also look at the signals provided by our proprietary quantitative models. These simple and robust models provide us with insights that are independent of investor consensus. By combining fundamental and quantitative analysis, we leverage the strengths of each.
Fundamental analysis
Macro
- Growth & inflation expectations
- Monetary and fiscal policy
Micro
- Business model
- Financial analysis
- Governance
- Covenants
- Sustainability
- Liquidity
Quantitative models
Quantitative signals
- Valuation
- Momentum
- Carry
- Positioning
Portfolio construction in five steps
1. Strategic asset allocation
Weighting of a diversified mix of fixed income segments to meet the client’s long-run objectives
2. Tactical asset allocation
Tactical change of the strategic weights in accordance with our investment strategy
3. Security selection
Selection of the security according to the issuer, structure, currency, maturity, liquidity, etc.
4. Dynamic management of portfolio exposures
Adjusting portfolio exposures through derivatives to limit downside risk and take advantage of short-term opportunities
5. Currency management
Management of currency exposures according to our investment views in the context of the overall portfolio risk
Asset allocation
The strategic allocation is the portfolio’s long-run anchor irrespective of current valuations. Our unconstrained global allocation allows the portfolio to take advantage of all available investment opportunities in the liquid bond universe and to benefit from full diversification.
We reassess the strategic allocation once a year on the basis of our long-term expectations of return and risk. In a second step, the tactical allocation diverges from the strategic allocation according to our short-term (6-12 months) return expectations. We review the tactical allocation at least once a month.
Security selection
Individual security selection involves choosing the single bonds that make up the portfolio according to criteria such as the issuer, maturity, currency, capital structure and liquidity. We assess each issuer’s fundamentals, particularly its ability to generate profits, to control leverage and to maintain sufficient liquidity. We place great emphasis on qualitative elements such as the sustainability of the business model and ESG factors, especially the quality of governance.
Once a bond has been added into the portfolio, our investment discipline dictates profit-taking when it no longer offers an attractive yield. We then replace it with another security boasting a better risk-return profile. When a bond underperforms, we determine whether credit fundamentals are still adequate. In the event they have deteriorated, we reduce or sell the position.
Risk management
We believe that sound risk management must be integrated into the investment process and combine several complementary levels. Before we initiate a position, we establish a trading plan with take-profit and stop-loss levels. Risk budgeting allows us to size each position so as to match the portfolio’s overall risk level and our degree of conviction in the trade.
At the portfolio level, the risk breakdown gives us an overview of the various exposures and of the correlation between them, in particular the interest rate, credit and currency exposures. Lastly, regular interaction with our external risk management consultant allows us to stress-test our ideas and to ensure we keep abreast of the latest academic developments.