Valletta Fund Management Limited (‘VFM’) and Insight Investments (Global) Management Limited (Insight), has recently organised a training programme in London for Bank of Valletta p.l.c. Wealth Management portfolio managers.
Josianne Bezzina and Stephen Borg have just returned from a two-day training programme during which they met various fund managers and had the opportunity to better understand the investment philosophy and management processes. The hosts included fund managers from Insight Investment (Global) Management Limited, JO Hambro Investment Management Limited, part of Credit Suisse Group, and Newton Investment Management, part of the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.
At Insight, Adam Mossakowski, the Fund Manager of the La Valette Sterling Income Fund and a UK and Global credit specialist, highlighted the systematic investment philosophy applied by Insight through precision methodology and diversification concept. The La Valette Sterling Income Fund aims to achieve a high level of income, with the possibility of capital growth, through investment in securities consisting principally of investment grade fixed and/or variable rate debt securities. He stated that “Having a team of global specialists in one location with years of experience is a considerable asset”.
On the same day Alex Moss, credit analyst at Insight, analysed the current High Yield Bond market scenario, four years after the financial system was on the brink of collapse. He stressed on the dissimilarities within the system where today companies have become less leveraged. “High Yield corporates have healthier balance-sheets where the median leverage ratio for all rated corporates is 23% lower than 2008 and these corporates hold significantly higher levels of cash” said Alex Moss. The La Valette High Yield Bond Fund which aims to achieve a high level of income through investment in a diversified portfolio of securities consisting principally of debt instruments whilst also seeking to achieve capital appreciation has, as at 31 May 2012, registered an income yield of 7.30%. The Fund focuses on capital preservation and yield, rather than aggressive growth.
The portfolio managers were also hosted by Peter Rutter and Will Kenney, Fund Managers at JO Hambro Investment Management (“JOHIM”) who manage the Vilhena Global Themed Fund which aim to achieve long-term growth by investing in equity and equity related securities throughout the world. The fund managers shared their investment philosophy and models with the portfolio managers and explained the use of ‘cash flow economic return framework’ and ‘Life Cycle concept’ to better understand companies, identify changes and value market expectations. These models assist the team in selecting companies that are underappreciated and undervalued by the market and identify opportunities for stock selection. They concentrate on companies with strong economic fundamentals, with a ‘positive to change’ attitude and which are geared to create wealth. The fund managers are of the opinion that the independent, efficient and disciplined investment process adopted by JOHIM is essential at identifying attractive stock investment globally and across all sectors.
The two day training programme came to an end after the visit at Newton Asset. The portfolio managers met Jason Pidcock, fund manager of the BNY Mellon Asian Equity Fund, which is the underlying Fund of the La Valette Far East Opportunities Fund. This Fund aims to achieve long term capital growth through investments in a regulated collective investment scheme which invests primarily in a portfolio of Asian (excluding Japan) equities. He stated that, “the specialist Asia Pacific team, supported by generalist global portfolio managers and specialist analysts, work within a robust communication culture and perform ongoing real-time debate where they efficiently generate and implement ideas as well as select stocks within the Asian market with growth potential at reasonable valuations.
He continued to explain the roles of the Newton’s Asia Pacific team of experts as well as Newton’s investment process. Moreover, he explained how “Their global and thematic approaches are the key instruments that observe change and provide long-term orientation”.
The BNY Mellon Asian Equity Fund is ‘AA’ rated by Standard & Poor.