Inflation Protected

Our Q3 portfolio was defensive, which we believe will be the appropriate stance in the next six-to-twelve months. Data coming out of the US has remained robust which could cause US bond yields to temporarily overshoot. An overshoot in US bond yields will be an opportunity to dial up the portfolio’s defensive tilt. The average decline in 10-year Treasury yields 12 months after the first Fed rate cut is 100 bps. This time should be no different. There are not many changes to this quarter’s portfolio allocation. We have upgraded UK gilts to overweight and downgraded European credit to underweight. Portfolio duration remains the same. In terms of future changes, we are generally watching the trend in inflation given many central banks are delivering jumbo rate cuts. Any pause in the disinflationary trend we have seen will send bond yields soaring. This is a risk to our view. Otherwise, a recession in the first half of 2025 will cement our long duration stance.

Our Portfolio Allocation Summary for October 2024.

Our Portfolio Allocation Summary for September 2024.

Our Portfolio Allocation Summary for August 2024.

In this report, we present the quarterly review of our Model Bond Portfolio. Rebounding growth and political instability led to slightly negative portfolio performance in Q2/2024. As global growth starts to moderate, we continue to favor government bonds over credit. Maintain a defensive portfolio stance.

We consider the outlook for CPI inflation over the next 12 months. Our baseline forecast calls for core CPI to hit 2.40% during this timeframe and for headline CPI to fall between 1.74% and 2.49%.

Our Portfolio Allocation Summary for July 2024.

In light of this week’s RBA decision to keep policy on hold, we look at the best possible trades in fixed income markets. In our view, inflation-linked bonds, relative to nominals remain a good bet.