In the latest instalment of Monday Manager, Portfolio Adviser speaks to Adam Whiteley, head of global credit at Insight Investment and portfolio manager of the £241m BNY Strategic Bond fund.
He discusses his interest in moving markets from a school age, awaiting the next shift in sentiment and what he learned during Covid-19.
The Monday Manager series covers fund managers that have worked on their fund for over three years, and where fund assets are over £100m.
How has your career evolved to where you are now? Have you always wanted to be involved in fixed income investing?
My path to joining the fund management business originally began at school. In my schooldays I was fascinated by reading in newspapers of how the share prices of companies moved over time. This eventually led me to take an economics degree as I have always had a great interest in the way the wider world and its economies work.
Fund management seemed an obvious route to satisfy my interest in stockmarkets and macroeconomics. I started at Insight on the graduate programme initially in the credit analysis team in 2007 on a steep learning curve for fixed income! By 2008 I was on the portfolio management team and I became head of global credit in 2022.
When originally applying to various graduate schemes, I assumed the investment world was totally focused on shares and equity investment. However, the people who interviewed me thought I would be well suited to the world of credit. I quickly learned that credit, within the fixed income world, is really a bridge between company level stockpicking (the equity market) and bond style investing.
Fortunately, I joined Insight as interest in credit markets and wider fixed income investment was seeing exponential growth.
See also: BNY Investments launches Global Short-Dated Credit fund
In a nutshell, how is the BNY Global Credit fund currently positioned? What are the key changes you made in 2025 and why?
Into the end of 2025 we were concerned about the potential for spread widening, so we were actually positioned to be underweight credit relative to our benchmark – we took that position off in December as markets behaved broadly as we expected, so it was an opportunity to lock this in. We’re now in a neutral position and awaiting the next shift in sentiment – although there aren’t any obvious negatives for credit markets in the short-term things can change quickly.
On a regional basis we’ve held a bias to European corporate credit relative to the US through 2025 as valuations were more attractive and we’ve kept this position into 2026.
Are you still seeing value in sterling investment grade credit? How does this compare with euro and US dollar-denominated credit?
Most of the alpha generated by our global credit strategy in 2025 came from individual security selection, not from any single country bias. However, we have taken regular overweight positions to European credit for the past three years, and part of this has been allocated to UK credit. The appeal of European credit has been that it has been relatively under-valued.
Within our European credit allocation, a common theme has been an allocation to UK utility securities whenever we wished to take a defensive bias, but also UK financial securities for reasons of value.
Equity investors have shifted away from the US – are you seeing this in fixed income too?
Since 2022 and the impact of the start of the war in Ukraine, we have commonly held an overweight to European credit versus US credit as we have seen better value on offer. We may end up holding this position in 2026 too. A key factor for the year ahead will be the pressure on the Federal Reserve to reduce rates at a faster pace. This could result in a fall in the value of the US dollar and potential Treasury volatility, which could introduce a new level of caution from overseas investors.
You also co-manage the BNY Strategic Bond Strategy. Tell us about how this fund is different and who it will appeal to?
Rather than focus on just investment grade corporate bond, it’s a go anywhere bond strategy than invests in securities across global fixed income markets either denominated in or hedged back to sterling, as it seeks to generate an attractive level of return while taking sustainable factors into account. The fund can invest in investment grade credit, high yield, asset-backed and government bonds. The fund is aimed at UK investors.
What’s an investment mistake you have learned from?
The Covid 19 crisis was a defining moment – not just for markets, but for how we think about risk and opportunity. The speed and severity of the dislocations were unprecedented and uniquely challenging. Yet, it presented a relatively rare opportunity to broadly add value for clients. It also reinforced the importance of a disciplined, repeatable investment process – one that helps distinguish between risk to avoid, and opportunity to embrace.
See also: Return of the ‘old normal’ for bond investors
What’s your fixed income outlook for 2026?
Recent corporate earnings have reaffirmed our view of the strong corporate fundamentals, underpinned by resilient profit growth. However, a notable theme across corporate results has been rising capital expenditure. We expect 2026 to be affected by borrowing for capital expenditure and merger and acquisition activity, driving a significant increase in issuance, most notably from AI-related expenditure.
While this supply dynamic is now well telegraphed and is unlikely to surprise markets, we anticipate that spreads could continue to edge wider and settle into a higher trading range early in the year as corporates return to the market in size. If supply disappoints and investor demand remains high, then spreads should grind tighter.
One trend that we’re closely monitoring is high-quality US corporates looking to issue euro-denominated debt seeking to take advantage of lower coupon rates. This may present opportunities for those with global mandates or flexibility to invest off benchmark.
We believe investor demand will remain robust in 2026 as investment grade credit offers a meaningful yield pickup over cash, and in our view, spreads offer attractive returns when compared to fundamental default risks, so we expect demand to remain high, with a focus on security selection and relative value trades.
