Liontrust Assessment of Value Report - Flipbook - Page 99
Global Fixed Income team
David Roberts, Phil Milburn and Donald Phillips manage
the Liontrust Global Fixed Income Funds. Before joining
Liontrust in early 2018, David and Phil worked together at
Kames Capital for 14 years, where David was Head of
the Fixed income team and Phil was Head of Investment
Strategy. They launched one of the first strategic bond
funds in 2003 and have been investing in high yield on
a global basis since 2003. Donald was previously an
investment manager in the Credit team at Baillie Gifford
and worked with David and Phil at Kames Capital for
three years from 2005 to 2008. He was co-manager of
the Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond Fund from June 2010
to 2017 and the US High yield strategy.
Investment process
The fund managers believe fixed income markets are
inefficient and there are myriad ways of adding value to
investors’ portfolios. The inefficiencies are caused by many
market protagonists who are not price sensitive, ranging
from the macroeconomic distortions caused by central
banks to the idiosyncratic scenarios when companies need
to raise debt finance and price accordingly. The Liontrust
Global Fixed Income investment process is designed to
take advantage of these inefficiencies through a thorough
understanding of the economic environment and detailed
bottom up stock analysis. The process uses the same
framework to garner a thorough understanding of the
economic environment and for bottom up stock analysis:
fundamentals, valuations and technicals (FVT). These three
factors are examined regardless of whether the managers
are considering a duration position or an investment in a
speculative grade rated company. In judging whether a
company is attractive long-term investment, the managers
analyse the following factors, which they call PRISM:
• Protections: operational and contractual, such as
structure and covenants
• Risks: credit, business and market
• Interest cover: leverage and other key ratios
• Sustainability: of cash flows and environmental, social
and governance (ESG) factors
• Motivations: of management and shareholders
Funds
• Liontrust Strategic Bond Fund
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