Fixed Income
Our investment philosophy sets us apart
We believe identifying and exploiting the risks and opportunities in today's fixed-income markets require truly active management, a commitment to fundamental research, and the resources to execute consistently.
Philosophy and process
We believe fixed-income opportunities are best exploited by specialists.
Our investment process is built around skilled individuals in highly specialized roles, identifying potential alpha-generating strategies in their areas of expertise.
We believe team-based active management leads to more efficient portfolios with better diversification.
Our team pursues multiple sources of alpha across a broad investment universe, seeking to take advantage of flexibility and eliminate unintended concentrations of risk.
We approach risk differently.
We seek to create opportunities through active allocation to sources of risk, not sectors.
Our process is a competitive advantage.
- Our portfolio construction process is team-based, specialist-driven, and risk-oriented, and has been in place for over 15 years.
- Our portfolios seek to deliver a diverse set of best ideas without the bias of an individual portfolio manager.
Risk-based framework focuses on four key areas in pursuit of alpha generation
Term structure
Value of cash flow over time
Yield curves
Level, slope, bend
Currency
Real versus nominal rates
Credit
Ability of a borrower to repay cash flow
Corporate
Investment grade and high yield
Mortgage
Residential and commercial MBS
Sovereign
Developed and emerging markets
Prepayment
Timing of receiving cash flow
Agency MBS
Collateralized mortgage obligations
IOs and POs
Callable corporate and government bonds
Liquidity
Ability to trade cash flow at the fair price
Pricing, volatility risk
Spreads not associated with fundamental loss
Fixed-income capabilities
A full range of benchmark-oriented and absolute return products
| Strategy | Category | Inception date | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Global Fixed Income | Multi-Sector Benchmark-oriented | August 31, 1993 | Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index |
| Core Plus Fixed Income | Multi-Sector Benchmark-oriented | June 30, 1991 | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index |
| Dedicated Mortgage | Securitized Product Strategies | July 31, 2009 | ICE BofA U.S. Dollar 1-month Constant Maturity Index |
| European High Yield | Single Sector Benchmark-oriented | September 30, 1999 | ICE BofA European Currency Developed Markets HY Constrained Index |
| Fixed Income Global Alpha | Absolute Return Fixed Income | August 31, 2008 | ICE BofA U.S. Dollar 1-month Constant Maturity Index |
| Fixed Income Global Alpha Plus | Absolute Return Fixed Income | October 31, 1988 | ICE BofA U.S. Treasury Bill Index |
| Global High Yield | Single Sector Benchmark-oriented | March 31, 2003 | ICE BofA Global HY IG Country Const 100% USD Hgd Index |
| Investment Grade Corporate Credit | Single Sector Benchmark-oriented | September 30, 2009 | Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Bond Index |
| U.S. Convertible Securities | Single Sector Benchmark-oriented | July 31, 1993 | ICE BofA U.S. Convertible Index |
| U.S. High Yield | Single Sector Benchmark-oriented | July 31, 1993 | JPMorgan Developed High Yield Index |
| Ultra Short Duration Income | Unconstrained Fixed Income | November 30, 2011 | ICE BofA U.S. Treasury Bill Index |
Browse our Perspectives
Fed's quantitative tightening (QT) will face constraints
The Fed is pursuing QT while being careful to avoid market disruption. Compare scenarios for QT and markets in Putnam's Macro Report.
The debt ceiling is raised, but the debt problem persists
As inflation sticks around, it is important to think about how it is related to high government debt.
Contracting money supply poses risk to bonds
A contracting money supply paired with the Fed's quantitative tightening is adding bank sector stress on Treasury and MBS markets.
Research publications
Fixed Income Outlook (PDF)
