
Man Sterling Corporate Bond
Man Sterling Corporate Bond is focused on investing in bonds that have a margin of safety. This is achieved through rigorous fundamental credit research. The fund has a flexible approach, investing globally across different geographies and sectors. 100% of the currency is hedged back to sterling to limit risk. Manager Jonathan Golan often finds many of his best ideas off the beaten path and is not afraid to invest in small and medium-sized issuers.
Our Opinion
Fund Manager
Fund Manager

Jonathan Golan, Lead Manager Jonathan Golan is a portfolio manager at Man GLG, specializing in corporate bond and dynamic credit strategies. He joined Man GLG in July 2021, after serving as a fund manager at Schroders, where he worked from 2013. Jonathan holds an MSc in Financial Economics from Oxford University and a BA in Economics from The Hebrew University.
Fund Performance
Risk
Quote from the Fund Manager
I am a big believer in common sense investing. We work relentlessly to find undervalued corporate bonds using a rigorous bottom-up driven investment approach. Our goal is to have an edge over our competitors by working harder to achieve a deep understanding of companies' fundamentals.
Jonathan Golan
Lead Manager
Investment process
There are three main elements to the investment philosophy of the Man Sterling Corporate Bond fund. First there is the margin of safety. The team works hard to find what it believes to be undervalued bonds whose yield greatly overstates the risk of the company defaulting – or not being able to pay its creditors. This is achieved through intensive credit research and a deep dive into a company’s financials and cash generation.
The second element is ‘alpha not beta’, which means the fund is very actively managed. Each company in the portfolio has a self-help story which is typically uncorrelated to the wider macroeconomic picture. The focus on idiosyncratic ideas also helps from a risk management point of view, as there tends to be less correlation between the different holdings. The fund aims to outperform in rising and falling markets.
The third element is ‘small is beautiful’. The investment grade bond index is heavily concentrated with 10% of the issuers accounting for 50% of the index by size. Large issuers tend to have a worse risk/reward as they are often highly levered and have lower yields. This fund’s emphasis is on small and medium-sized issuers, which may be less understood by peers and can often deliver a much better risk/reward.
Man Sterling Corporate Bond fund has between 80 and 120 issuers and invests globally, although typically half the bonds in the portfolio will be sterling denominated. Up to 20% of the fund can be invested in high yield bonds, but it usually has a low teens weight to this part of the asset class. Given the importance of medium-sized and small issuers to the fund, it will always be a relatively small fund to allow the manager the flexibility to trade in and out of positions.
Risk
To mitigate both interest rate and credit risks, the manager limits duration to plus or minus two years from the benchmark and makes sure the portfolio is diversified. Because the fund invests in smaller issuers, liquidity could also be a risk. This risk is mitigated by having capacity constraints on the fund. All bonds are 100% hedged back to sterling to remove any currency risk.
ESG
ESG is an important part of the fund’s risk assessment and ESG research is conducted to ensure a strong alignment of interests. However, the fund is classified as article 6 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). This means the fund does not have a sustainable investment objective, nor does it embrace investment in assets with environmental or social benefits.