Jupiter Strategic Bond
Jupiter Strategic Bond is a flexible 'go-anywhere' fund that allows the manager considerable freedom to exploit opportunities across global bond markets. The aim is to achieve a moderate income, but with the prospect for growth, although in practice the manager is prepared to sacrifice yield in order to preserve capital. He is quite cautious in his approach and emphasises limiting potential losses in tough markets.
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Ariel Bezalel began his career at Jupiter and has been part of the Fixed Interest & Multi-Asset Team since 1998, becoming a fund manager in 2000. He currently manages the Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund and the Jupiter Dynamic Bond Fund. Ariel holds a degree in Economics from Middlesex University.
Harry Richards joined Jupiter in 2011 and is an Investment Manager in the Fixed Income Team. He co-manages the Jupiter Multi-Sector Fixed Income franchise with Ariel Bezalel, which includes the Jupiter Unconstrained Bond Strategy and the Jupiter Global Fixed Income Strategy. Harry also co-manages the Jupiter Sterling Investment Grade Non-Gilt Strategy with Adam Darling. He holds a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University and is a CFA® Charterholder.
Ariel Bezalel began his career at Jupiter and has been part of the Fixed Interest & Multi-Asset Team since 1998, becoming a fund manager in 2000. He currently manages the Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund and the Jupiter Dynamic Bond Fund. Ariel holds a degree in Economics from Middlesex University.
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Company Description
Founded in 1985, Jupiter Asset Management has grown from a specialist investment boutique to a global fund management company. It provides a range of products from bond and equity funds to multi-asset strategies for both retail and institutional clients. Jupiter is a strong proponent of active management and therefore gives its managers the freedom to run their funds their way, without having to adhere to a 'house' view. In July 2020, Jupiter completed its acquisition of Merian Global Investors.
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Quote from the Fund Manager
Human emotions are very much involved when managing people’s money. That’s where you’ve got to try and step away from that, ignore a lot of the day-to-day noise and stick to your investing principles.
Ariel Bezalel
Lead Manager
Investment process
Jupiter Strategic Bond will typically hold around 350–400 instruments and, for the most part, the fund will invest across the full credit spectrum. Ariel and his team conduct their own macroeconomic research, analysing global monetary policy and data relating to economic activity. Once they have formulated their views, they will then decide in which bonds to invest, looking at maturity dates, geographic regions and credit quality. Extensive company research is conducted at this stage. The team use derivatives extensively and can take short positions to profit from falling bond prices.
Risk
Since launch, Ariel’s generally cautious approach has resulted in the fund outperforming its peers in many falling markets. However, the level of risk at any one time is heavily dependent on Ariel’s current macroeconomic view, which, as you would expect with a strategic bond fund, can vary greatly. Ariel is often willing to hold some higher risk high yield bonds if he thinks they offer good value.
ESG
ESG - Integrated
ESG is fully integrated throughout the process - from risk management to portfolio construction and from finding opportunities to engaging with companies. As a bond manager, Ariel wants to understand whether a firm’s underlying fundamentals will be affected by ESG issues. Poor corporate governance, such as weak capital discipline leading to overleverage, is the most obvious, although environmental and social risks may also damage the outlook for businesses and could lead to defaults. As such, ESG risks are first integrated in the financial analysis element of the process. If risks are identified, it is not an instant exclusion. Ariel will see if the business is willing and able to help itself improve. Post investment, he will engage with a business on their thoughts and progress on issues. Divestment is an option if he feels a business in not moving in the right direction. The analysis is undertaken by the credit analysts who identify these issues as part of the overall report. Ariel has oversight to query these assumptions and will subsequently engage with a company’s management team. Both Ariel and the analysts have use of Jupiter’s in-house Governance and Sustainability team for help on best practice.
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