According to F&C’s interim management statement, total assets under management at the group were up £1.7bn in the three months to 31 March, with retail inflows and positive market movements leading to the increase.
But intermediaries were less confident and pulled a net £393m out of the firm’s mandates during the period, with the majority of outflows incurred in the Thames River Global Bond products.
Thursby and Geikie-Cobb’s Global Bond Fund was launched in October 2003 as a sub-fund of traditional funds and its aim is to achieve a total return through investing in debt securities.
Over one year the fund has returned -3.74%, while the index has returned 6.7%. Similarly, over three years it has lagged the index, returning 4.72% versus 11.09% from the index.
The managers are currently positioned with short overall duration equally split between Germany and the UK via futures and long the US and Canadian dollar at the expense of European currencies.
In their latest factsheet they said they are cautious of US treasuries because the likelihood of nominal GDP growth of 4% and above means that 10-year US treasury yields of 2% are in "dangerously over-valued territory".
