United Kingdom
Credit ratings apply to all debt of the same seniority, regardless of maturity, despite greater default risk over longer time horizons.
Credit spreads in high yield markets tend to be relatively flat, offering little benefit for duration risk unless you have a strong market outlook. Thus, investors in short-dated high yield are disproportionately compensated for the credit risk they assume.
Default risk rises with time, but spreads don’t
Source: For illustrative purposes only.
Our focus on cashflow visibility has helped us avoid defaults historically. We also avoid companies with short track records or asset-light profiles and generally steer clear of CCC-rated issues due to insufficient yield premium for higher default risk.
High yield bonds often allow early redemption at set prices above 100. We believe our short-dated focus means we are in prime position to pinpoint bonds that will be called early, exploiting call premiums to enhance the returns we generate.
Senior Portfolio Manager, High Yield
Uli joined Insight in September 2011 as a Senior Credit Analyst within the Fixed Income Group. He became a Portfolio Manager in June 2012 and is responsible for the high yield strategy. Prior to joining Insight, Uli was a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Paternoster Services Ltd where he was responsible for managing investment grade sterling portfolios. Uli started his career in the industry in 1997 with Saudi International Bank (now Gulf International Bank) as a high yield trainee analyst initially looking at the global chemical industry for high yield and investment grade credit research and later portfolio management. Uli graduated in 1993 with a BA degree in Chemistry from the University of Kaiserslautern. In 1997 Uli gained a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Cambridge University. He also attended the JP Morgan credit training programme for analysts in New York in 1998.
Senior Portfolio Manager
Cathy is a Senior Portfolio Manager in Insight’s European High Yield and Loans Team. She originally joined Insight in September 2012 as a Senior Credit Analyst within the Fixed Income Group. Prior to this role, she worked at Citi where she was an Analyst focussing on high yield and distressed stocks. Cathy has previously worked as a Portfolio Manager at Saudi International Bank (now Gulf International Bank). She began her industry career in 1994 as a Portfolio Manager with AMP Asset Management. Cathy holds a B Commerce degree in Finance/Economics from the University of New South Wales.
Portfolio Manager – Leveraged Loans
Lorraine joined the Fixed Income Group at Insight in July 2007 to help establish and manage the loan platform and is the portfolio manager for the Loan Fund, as well as being responsible for Insight’s leveraged loan investments, more widely. She has a wide range of contacts in the European loan market and a broad range of transactional experience across both leveraged and CRE loan deals. She has been closely involved in the design and oversight of Insight’s loan processes and has extensive knowledge of Insight’s loan management systems. Prior to joining Insight, Lorraine worked at Bayern LB for five years, latterly as an associate in the Acquisition & Leveraged Finance Team where she was part of a deal team that sourced and transacted loans. Lorraine graduated from the University of Bath with a BA (Hons) degree in French, German and European Studies. She also holds the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society of the UK.
