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Specialist in Asia Pacific, Japan, China, India and South East Asia and Global Emerging Market equities.

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Stewart Investors manage investment portfolios on behalf of our clients over the long term and have held shares in some companies for over 20 years. They launched their first investment strategy in 1988.

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Leader in systematic equities across market cap weighted indices, smart beta and active quantitative strategies

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Global Fixed Income

Since 1989, we have managed funds under the Colonial First State brand. Fund names have changed to reflect our new name, First Sentier Investors.

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Strategy Overview

Key Facts

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* This is an annualised interest rate from the past seven days. For actual performance for our Cash Funds, please view the performance page.
Investment experts across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US collaborating through our fixed income proprietary platform, the Investment Opinion Network (ION)

Achieve deeper diversification in the most defensive part of a portfolio

With over 50 investment experts located globally, our analysts are free to select the most compelling investment ideas across global fixed income markets. We cover a broad spectrum of investment grade and high yield sovereign and corporate bonds in developed and emerging markets. This enables portfolio managers to construct diverse, efficient portfolios that are better able to meet clients' investment objectives. 

Local knowledge; a global advantage

Unconstrained by a house view

Our research is free from the constraint of a house view, enabling our analysts to find the best investment ideas wherever and whenever the opportunity arises.

Portfolio construction

Across our range of absolute return, benchmark relative and objective-based strategies, our portfolio managers bring together their best relative value ideas to drive above market returns. Our focus on uncorrelated sources of alpha helps reduce risk.

Transparent reporting and decision making

We continually analyse and demonstrate every part of the investment decision-making process to ensure we meet our client needs and objectives, from idea generation, to portfolio construction, to alignment of operating processes and best-practice ESG integration.

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Asset classes

  • Sovereign bonds
  • Corporate bonds
  • Inflation linked bonds
  • Asset backed securities 
  • High grade bonds
  • High yield
  • Developed markets
  • Emerging markets
  • Hard currency and local currency 

Investment styles

  • Benchmark aware
  • Unconstrained 
  • Objective based
  • Buy and maintain
  • Total return
  • Absolute return 

As well as managing established funds, we have a proven ability to manage bespoke, segregated mandates that are tailored according to client's individual requirements 

Why invest in global fixed income with First Sentier Investors?

  • Gain exposure to unconstrained, diverse sources of fixed income returns.

  • Quality control and measurement throughout the investment process offers the potential for long term, repeatable investment performance. 

  • Independent research and portfolio construction to ensure investment ideas match our client objectives. 

  • Investment experts across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US collaborating through our fixed income proprietary platform, the Investment Opinion Network (ION). 

  • Our in-house research - and company engagement - remains the most important source of reference when integrating ESG considerations into our investment process. 

  • Capturing the trend through the noise: Effective risk management allows nimble movement across a variety of market conditions - we try to capture long-term structural shifts and secular movements, but do not ignore short-term or technical factors. 

  • We seek to deliver long-term excess returns, but have an over-arching emphasis on protecting capital. 

The power of active management

By ensuring that portfolios are built in a balanced and diversified manner - where no individual risk position or view has the ability to dominate the return profile - we increase the likelihood of delivering on stated portfolio objectives. This aims to provide investors with better risk adjusted returns over time. 

Actively managed portfolios can benefit from exposure across a wide range of fixed income-related investment opportunities, including: 

Duration

Portfolios can be positioned to benefit from anticipated directional movements in bond yields. Changes in economic conditions and interest rate expectations typically affect bond yields - our in-house research is therefore focused on economic indicators and the identification of trends. 

Curve

We can position portfolios to benefit from anticipated movements in the shape of bond yield curves, both within developed and emerging markets. Yield curves rarely remain static for long and movements provide opportunities for active managers to exploit. 

Inflation

Evolving inflationary pressures affect inflation-liked bonds. We are able to implement active positions in this area of the market to benefit from anticipated trends. 

Credit

We are able to gain selective exposure to issuers, whose bonds provide higher yields than comparable government securities or have better risk characteristics. 

Country spreads

Some of our portfolios are able to benefit from movements in global government bond markets relative to one another. 

Currency

Beyond yield factors, growth expectations and macro economic dynamics can be reflected in the relationship between different currencies. 

Different strategies combine all or a number of these components depending on the risk return appetite of our professional clients. 

Responsible Investment

Our corporate RI strategy is based upon three strategic pillars of quality, stewardship and engagement.

The Global Fixed Income team defines Responsible Investment as an investment process that considers environmental, social and governance indicators alongside traditional indicators of financial performance. Importantly, our process does not implement ethical screens. We consider ESG factors relative to their potential impact on financial performance.

Learn more about the Global Fixed Income team's approach to Responsible Investment

Meet the Investment team

Kenneth Bowling

Head of Portfolio Management

    Mike Arnold

    Co-Lead, Credit Research

      Ky Van Tang

      Co-Lead, Credit Research

        Anthony O'Brien

        European Rates and Currency Strategist

          Insights

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          Financial Services Guide (PDF)

          On 16 September 2019, Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) rebranded to First Sentier Investors. Any content produced prior to this date may be branded CFSGAM and include trade marks that First Sentier Investors used under licence. References to Colonial First State Asset Management (Australia) Limited are references to the former name of First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd.

          Material on this website is intended to provide general information only. Such material does not into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider these matters before acting on the information and consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement for any product named on this website before making an investment decision.

          Total returns for the Funds have been calculated using exit prices after taking into account all ongoing fees and assuming reinvestment of distributions. No allowance has been made for taxation. Past performance is no indication of future performance.

          Any opinions expressed in videos are the opinions of the individual participant and are subject to change without notice. Such opinions are not a recommendation to hold, purchase or sell a particular financial product and may not include all of the information required to make such a decision. Before making any such decision you should consult a financial adviser.

          Copyright © First Sentier Investors (Australia) Services Pty Ltd 2021, (part of First Sentier Investors, a global asset management business. First Sentier Investors is ultimately owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc MUFG.)