Allianz Global Investors’ Income and Growth fund was last year’s most-researched in the Hong Kong SFC authorised mutual universe on FE, according to year-end figures from the research firm.
The prospect of higher global interest rates and slower economic growth amid persistent geopolitical anxieties prompted investors to reassess the attractions of yield and income. Widening credit spreads, especially for high yield bonds, also offered tempting entry points.
The fund received a research figure of 21,617 in 2018, based on the number of times a fund featured in a research report and the number of times its factsheet was viewed.
The managers, Douglas Forsyth and Michael Yee, seek to generate long-term capital appreciation and income through a combination of equities, bonds and convertibles. Allocations were quite evenly split between the three asset classes – and were made almost entirely to the US markets – according to the most recent Morningstar fact sheet.
The €26.9bn ($31.1bn) fund made a standardised return of 1.02% last year, boosted by a strong second quarter. Its three-year annualised return is 12.28%, exceeding both the average of its category peers (3.51%) and its benchmark index (1.31%), as noted by Morningstar.
The Frankfurt-based firm, which manages $618bn globally, also filled the second and third places in the ranking for its Dynamic Asian High Yield Bond fund and US High Yield fund respectively.
In fact, six out of the top ten funds researched were dedicated fixed income funds. Apart from Allianz’s stable, they included funds managed by Templeton, Blackrock and HSBC with mandates ranging across global, Asian and Indian bonds.
Top 50 Researched – Hong Kong |
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| CitiCode | Manager | Fund | Sector | Research | Rank |
| FPZL | Allianz | Income and Growth | Mixed Asset – Cautious | 21617 | 1 |
| FXTU | Allianz | Dynamic Asian High Yield Bond | Fixed Int – US Dollar High Yield | 18976 | 2 |
| FERI | Allianz | US High Yield | Fixed Int – US Dollar High Yield | 17643 | 3 |
| FT30 | Templeton | Global Total Return | Fixed Int – Global | 17176 | 4 |
| G19C | HSBC | American Index | Equity – North America | 16979 | 5 |
| G0IC | BlackRock | GF Asian Tiger Bond | Fixed Int – Asia Pacific | 14271 | 6 |
| GLUQ | BlackRock | GF Global Multi-Asset Income | Mixed Asset – Cautious | 14107 | 7 |
| G26V | Templeton | Global Bond | Fixed Int – Global | 12641 | 8 |
| G60A | Barings | Europe Select Trust | Equity – Europe Small/Mid Cap | 12442 | 9 |
| F4PN | HSBC | GIF India Fixed Income | Fixed Int – Emerging Markets | 12003 | 10 |
