Needless to say, the extended tweet didn’t quite fit within Twitter’s 140 characters limit, but it just goes to show the extent groups will go to manage their marketing message.
I’ll have to be careful what I write here – Portfolio Adviser is after all funded by advertising – but it has been fascinating to observe the ways asset managers have been going about trying to reassure investors in volatile times, particularly as no single asset class truly stands out as an obvious buy.
Dynamism and diversity
Take BlackRock’s latest billboard campaign. “It’s a new world,” it screams, “so what do I do with my money?”
The solution is a “more dynamic, diverse portfolio”, though there’s no specific product being promoted here. Dynamism and diversity are two qualities which have gained traction across the whole industry of late, especially from marketers of multi-asset and strategic bond funds.
Spreading risk seems to be theme du jour; probably a sensible tactic given how the clock is ticking on the eurozone. Still, the funds industry should be buoyed by the latest IMA stats for net retail sales which, at £2.1bn in April, were the highest for a year.
UK debt leads the way
Following on from Q1 this year, it was actually vanilla UK corporate bond funds that continued to lead the way in terms of inflows, and this is not a sector that groups have been pushing much recently. Strategic bonds, yes. Emerging market debt, yes. But not boring old UK corporate bond funds. Perhaps groups believe their funds are big enough already?
Interestingly, over the past year it has actually been the much maligned – and hardly ever advertised – UK gilt funds that have been the best performers across the fixed income spectrum. Still, past performance is not a guarantee…
A full article on the current risks associated with investing in credit features in the June edition of Portfolio Adviser, out next week.
