Invesco Tactical Bond - fund manager retirement

After 27 years at Invesco and a 37 year investment career, co-head of Fixed Income and co-manager of the Invesco Tactical Bond fund Paul Causer will retire at the end of this year.

From January 2022, the fund will be co-managed by Stuart Edwards and Julien Eberhardt. Its objective to provide some income and capital growth over the long term will remain the same. Edwards has been a co-manager of this fund since August 2020 and Eberhardt since August 2021.

The new managers

Edwards and Eberhardt have considerable investment experience. Both have been at Invesco for over a decade and worked on or managed several bond funds. They both have a number of additional fund management responsibilities, but we feel there is appropriate overlap, applicable experience, and they have the support of a strong fixed income team based in Henley.

Edwards, who will be lead manager, has managed a global bond fund since 2010. He’s demonstrated an ability to add value through different facets of bond investing, including duration management (interest rate sensitivity), yield curve positioning, and credit (individual corporate bond) selection. He’s also managed an emerging market debt fund since 2017.

Eberhardt specialises in the analysis of financials and has managed a global financial capital fund since 2014 and a Euro corporate bond fund since 2016. We think investors will benefit from Eberhardt’s involvement given the Invesco Tactical Bond fund has had a long-standing significant allocation to bonds issued by banks. This currently stands at 42.1% of the fund, though this may change over time depending on where the managers find opportunities. Eberhardt also manages a global total return bond fund.

Our view

When there’s a change in fund manager, it’s normal to see the fund evolve over time to reflect the convictions and views of the new managers. We don’t expect to see significant changes though given the managers have worked together for many years and will follow the same process.

Causer’s retirement has been well managed by Invesco, with excellent communication throughout and ample notice provided to us. As a result, since we were informed of Causer’s planned retirement date, we’ve met the new managers on a number of occasions and think they have complementary skillsets. We expect to see Edwards lead on wider economic views and the way the fund’s invested off the back of this, while Eberhardt will contribute more to credit selection.

We view Edwards and Eberhardt as sensible stewards of the fund. They respect the fund’s existing philosophy and we think they are well-prepared to manage it when Paul Causer departs.

For these reasons we will retain Invesco Tactical Bond on the Wealth Shortlist.

This isn’t a recommendation to make any changes to a portfolio. Investors should make sure any investments match their investment goals and attitude to risk. If you're not sure if an investment is suitable for your circumstances, please seek advice.

Annual percentage growth

Past performance isn't a guide to the future. Source: Lipper IM to 30/09/2021.

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