Posted inHead To Head

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Fidelity Strategic Bond vs M&G Optimal Income

This week's Head-to-Head sees the Fidelity Strategic Bond Fund take on the M&G Optimal Income Fund.
by Fund Selector Asia
Verdict

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It seems that, given the long-term consistency of the funds and relative performance against their peers, this week’s Head-to-Head is harder to decide than most.

“I like both funds and have been long-term fans of both – they are Elite Rated by FundCalibre and on the Chelsea Selection,” said McDermott.

However, while both judges agree it was near-run thing, they are unanimous in their respective.

“M&G have become to go to choice for the ‘corporate bond plus’ investor, and those that have made this choice will not have been disappointed,” said Prior.

“However, the sheer size of the assets run by the team scare me, and when I speak to a manager as I did yesterday who has £100m of cash that they may wish to deploy and thinks it may take them a week, I feel justified in preferring the Fidelity fund, which arguably has a stickier client base and longer time horizon when investing.”

McDermott agreed: “If I had to pick one right now, I think it would be the Fidelity fund. Ian’s views very much reflect my own when it comes to this asset class and he generally produces less volatile results, which I think will be important for bond investors over the next year or so.”

Verdict: Fidelity Strategic Bond

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