Fixed Income Strategies

Core Markets

Nikko AM’s Fixed Income - Core Market products are actively managed using fundamental top-down and bottom-up research, to create products with diversified portfolios. The team draws on fundamental analysis as the primary contributor of returns and complements selection and allocations with other drivers, including interest rates and currencies.

Investment Philosophy

The investment team believes that markets are not entirely efficient and fundamental research reflected in high conviction duration, currency, credit and yield curve calls is the key to delivering positive returns for clients.

Key Differentiators

  • We do not have a home bias; nothing pre-occupies portfolio construction - our well-established fixed income teams in US, Europe, Singapore and Japan allows the Global Credit team to develop a holistic and balanced view by drawing on local expertise and on-the-ground research of these teams.

  • We employ a pragmatic approach and deploy our resources to areas where we see value.

  • We are innovative. Credit research and Risk Management are supported by proprietary quantitative models which allow us to focus on alpha generating ideas.

  • We are communicative. Regional teams communicate both formally and informally to share information and research. This additional insight allows the team to execute quickly once they have made a decision.

Positive returns captured through...

Quality Research

Issue Selection

Interest Rate Forecasting

Currency Management

Our Team

The Head Portfolio Manager of Core Markets is Steve Williams, he sits within the Global Fixed Income team based in London and led by Andre Severino. The team consists of 16 investment professionals with an average of 16 years of investment management experience.

The team has significantly broadened over time to support the strategies’ growth and cater to institutional portfolios. One of our biggest advantages is the fluid interaction across these four categories and the ability to execute decisions quickly, once a team decision has been made.

“The team is continually reviewing its product line up to cater for global demand and has been able to develop new solutions that are focused on higher yielding and higher credit quality solutions that meet client needs for a positive yielding investment.”

Our Process

The investment team uses a consistent investment process that incorporates quantitative and qualitative inputs from experienced investment professionals. The four step process is disciplined and transparent, which engages the team in a collaborative process to generate ideas and construct a high quality portfolio.

process chart
process chart

Embedded Risk Management

Ongoing risk management is integral to the entire investment process with constant dialogue between our investment and independent risk management teams in ensuring that risks are identified, evaluated, monitored and mitigated. For the Emerging Market Debt strategy the investment management team is responsible for Systematic and Unsystematic risk in the portfolio. The investment risk team is responsible for the monitoring and escalation of risk.

Nikko AME's risk management department closely monitors market, credit, operational and portfolio management risk and takes appropriate measures to minimise the impact of potential risk. The risk management process starts with Risk Budgeting and the Risk Management Department which conducts independent, detailed analysis of portfolio risk and characteristics, as well as performance attribution and peer group analysis. The risk process consists of risk budgeting and monitoring with clearly detailed escalation procedures at every step.

The Risk Management Department truly understands the investment management process and therefore feedback and a meaningful dialogue between the investment team and risk managers takes place as part of the firm’s continuous communication flows.

Innovation

The portfolio is constructed through a combination of highly rated stocks from the research universe and the portfolio manager’s own ideas; historically about 80% of the names have analyst “buy” recommendations. The stock selection process identifies a diverse group of companies with high potential for growth and capital appreciation, emphasizing the following two attributes in the context of mid- to long-term industry trends:

Customized Solutions

  • Negative interest rates in Japan and Europe have caused a significant increase in demand for bespoke global fixed income products.

  • Since 2016, Nikko AM's Global Fixed Income team has launched the following products catered for institutional clients:

"Building on strong client relationships and our extensive investment skills, the team has been able to tailor specialised investment solutions for our institutional clients. "

High Convivtion, Scalable Processes, Customised Solutions

Lead Portfolio Manager

Steve Williams

Steve Williams

Head Portfolio Manager Core Markets

Steve Williams is the Head Portfolio Manager for Global Core Strategies and a Managing Director in Nikko AM’s London Office. He is a member of the fixed income & foreign exchange investment committee as well the portfolio manager with oversight for the firm’s investment grade, municipal, green bond, global mortgages and global bond business as well as credit research.

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He joined Nikko AM in 2007 and took over co-management responsibility with Andre Severino for the firm’s flagship global sovereign bond strategy as well as launching the first dedicated Danish mortgage bond strategy into Japan in 2016. Steve, previously served as a Credit research analyst with New York Life Investment Management in corporate bonds and structured finance as a senior analyst. He has over 14 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and is a certified FRM.

Important Information

The funds mentioned are Singapore registered funds approved for sale or purchase in Singapore. By proceeding, you are representing and warranting that you are either resident in Singapore or the applicable laws and regulations of your jurisdiction allow you to access the information.

The information on this website is not intended to be an offer, or a solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any product or service to any person in any jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction.

This website may contain links to the website of certain overseas affiliates of Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited (“Nikko AM Asia”). However, providing such links should not be considered as offering or solicitation by Nikko AM Asia of any product or service of its affiliates to any person.

This website is purely for informational purposes only with no consideration given to the specific investment objective, financial situation and particular needs of any specific person. It should not be relied upon as financial advice. The mention of individual securities, sectors, regions or countries within this website are for illustration purposes only and does not imply a recommendation to buy or sell. You should seek advice from a financial adviser before making any investment. In the event that you choose not to do so, you should consider whether the investment selected is suitable for you. Investments in funds are not deposits in, obligations of, or guaranteed or insured by Nikko AM Asia.

Past performance or any prediction, projection or forecast is not indicative of future performance. The Funds or any underlying funds may use or invest in financial derivative instruments. The value of units and income from them may fall or rise. Investments in the Funds are subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of principal amount invested. You should read the relevant prospectus (including the risk warnings) and product highlights sheet of the Funds, which are available and may be obtained from appointed distributors of Nikko AM Asia or our website (www.nikkoam.com.sg) before deciding whether to invest in the Funds.

The information contained herein may not be copied, reproduced or redistributed without the express consent of Nikko AM Asia. While reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information as at the date of publication, Nikko AM Asia does not give any warranty or representation, either express or implied, and expressly disclaims liability for any errors or omissions. Information may be subject to change without notice. Nikko AM Asia accepts no liability for any loss, indirect or consequential damages, arising from any use of or reliance on this website.

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