Investment Strategy
The Berenberg EM Bonds fund uses an active investment process to invest in attractive government and quasi-sovereign bonds from emerging markets that offer above-average return potential compared to traditional EUR fixed income investments. Using a combination of systematic and discretionary components in the investment process, the fund manager selects bonds from fundamentally convincing emerging markets or government-related companies for the portfolio. The investment strategy is underpinned by ongoing country risk management and active interest rate duration management. The foreign currency risk is generally hedged.
- Fundamental investment approach in government and quasi-sovereign bonds from Emerging Markets with active duration management
- Active positioning against a market benchmark
- Average duration is between 0 and 10 years
- Investment segments are primarily (quasi) government bonds in hard currencies
Learn more about our Berenberg Fixed Income investment philosophy
Further details on the opportunities and risks of this fund can be found in the sales prospectus.
Indexed performance
Performance in 12-month periods
Currencies
Sectors
Countries
Asset classes
Top Holdings
Monthly market comment
Spreads in emerging market bonds trended sideways in April after the widening in March resulting from the general risk aversion generated by the regional banking crisis. While the risk in the banking sector seems to be contained, emerging market investors remain cautious but optimistic about positive performance once rates in developed markets have peaked. There was, however, a further widening of the investment grade versus high yield credit spread in emerging markets, led by countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Colombia, and Angola. The Berenberg Emerging Markets Bond Fund remains invested in commodity-linked countries, with a slight bias towards high yield credits, and as such, marginally underperformed the benchmark in April.
Portfolio Management
Robert Reichle
Robert Reichle, CFA, CQF joined Berenberg as a senior portfolio manager in January 2010. As a member of the fixed income selection team he is responsible for the creation and implementation of global fixed income portfolio management strategies. He has expertise in emerging markets debt, global government bonds, as well as corporates and financials. He is also the lead manager of the Berenberg mutual funds Emerging Markets Bond Selection, Global Bond Selection, and EUR Government Bond Selection. Robert has been working in the financial sector since 2004. Before joining Berenberg he was a senior strategist and portfolio manager at Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles and he also worked at WestLB AG, London as a manager in Emerging Markets credit derivatives trading and structuring. Robert is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), received the CQF designation, and also has a German Diplom in economics from the University of Ulm and a Master in international economics from the University of Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris.
Zinzile Dube
Zinzile Dube joined Berenberg in October 2021 as a fixed income portfolio manager within Global and Emerging Markets. As a member of the fixed income selection team she is responsible for the analysis, selection, and implementation of global fixed income portfolio management strategies, with expertise in Emerging Markets securities. She has a background in Emerging Markets fixed income trading and structuring, having worked for J.P. Morgan and ABSA bank in South Africa, as well as Bunge Financial Services Group in the Netherlands. Zinzile holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Finance and Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as an MBA from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
