Asia Total Return Bond Strategy

The strategy takes an unconstrained approach to Asian fixed-income investing, enabling the team to pursue alpha by targeting interest-rate, credit, and currency opportunities in the region’s hard and local currency bond markets. The strategy seeks to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns by maintaining a flexible portfolio that dynamically allocates across sovereign, quasisovereign, and corporate debt.

 

Philosophy

The team believes the inefficiencies embedded within Asia’s many heterogeneous fixed-income markets create opportunities in interest rates, credit, and currencies, allowing the potential to generate consistent, attractive, risk-adjusted returns. Leveraging the firm’s extensive footprint on the continent, the team is supported by the largest Asia-dedicated fixed-income platform in the industry, giving the team what it believes is an information advantage against many of its peers. 

Managed by

Endre Pedersen

Deputy CIO, Global Fixed Income & CIO, Global Emerging Markets Fixed Income

Endre is Senior Managing Director, Deputy CIO, Global Fixed Income & CIO, Global Emerging Markets Fixed Income for Manulife Investment Management, and is lead manager for the company’s pan-Asian fixed-income strategies. Endre has extensive investment experience in developed Asian markets, having managed single and multiple currency funds with exposure to Asian sovereign and corporate debt. Before joining the company, he worked as a senior fixed-income portfolio manager for DBS Asset Management and, prior to this, he was a fixed-income portfolio manager for Hermes Investment Management and F&C Management in London.

  • Education: B.Fin., University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Business School
  • Joined the company: 2008
  • Began career: 1999
Endre Pedersen

Chris Lam

Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Asia Fixed Income

Based in Hong Kong, Chris is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager with the Asia Fixed Income team.

Before becoming a portfolio manager in 2021, Chris was a senior Asian credit analyst. Prior to joining the firm, he was a market risk analyst in the Capital Markets Credit Risk Group at J.P. Morgan & Chase Private Bank in Hong Kong. Earlier in his career, Chris worked at Moody's Analytics in New York as a credit analyst covering global corporate credits.

  • Education: Chris holds a BA in Economics from Brandeis University, Boston and a MS in Financial Engineering from Columbia University, New York. He is a CFA charterholder.
  • Joined Firm: 2011
  • Began Career: 2005
Chris Lam

Eric Lo, CFA

Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Asia Fixed Income

Based in Hong Kong, Eric is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager with the Asia Fixed Income team. He is an experienced portfolio manager of multi-and single currency Asia Pacific bond mandates invested in both sovereign and corporate debt. He supports the pan-Asia bond strategies with an emphasis on Asian local currency debt markets.

Eric joined the firm in 2010 with the Asia Fixed Income team in Hong Kong. He has been a member of the pan-Asia bond team since joining. Earlier in his career, Eric worked for RBC Dexia in Toronto as a derivatives analyst.

  • Education: Eric holds a Bachelor of Mathematics in Finance from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He is a CFA charterholder and has completed the CFA UK Certificate in ESG Investing.
  • Joined Firm: 2010
  • Began Career: 2008
Eric Lo, CFA

Murray Collis

CIO, Asia (ex-Japan) Fixed Income

Based in Singapore, Murray is a Senior Managing Director, CIO, Asia (ex-Japan) Fixed Income and lead portfolio manager of our Singapore-based fixed income strategies. He also supports the pan-Asian fixed-income team in the management of pan-Asian strategies. Murray has 25 years of industry experience, 20 of which in portfolio management in markets including London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Most recently, Murray was the head of Asian fixed income (based in Singapore) for Standish Mellon Asset Management. Prior to that, he spent 16 years with First State Investments covering currencies, global bonds, and credit.

  • Education: B.Com., B.Econ., University of Newcastle, Australia
  • Joined the company: 2016
  • Began career: 1996
Murray Collis

Vehicles

At Manulife Investment Management, we offer investment strategies through a variety of vehicles to suit a broad range of client needs. Contact our institutional sales or consultant relations team to find out if this strategy/vehicle is offered in your region. 

Separate accounts

Our separate accounts and separately managed accounts (SMAs) are designed for institutions and high-net-worth clients seeking tailored investment solutions and direct ownership of securities. 

Pooled Funds

Our professionally managed Pooled Funds are available to qualified institutions.

Mutual funds

Mutual funds are liquid, professionally managed portfolios which are available to both institutional and retail investors.


Key facts

Inception date

October 2009

Strategy AUM (USD)

$55.53 million

Benchmark

50% JPMorgan Asia Credit Index,
50% JPMorgan Emerging Local Market Plus Asia Index

Style

Multi-sector Asian bonds

Expected tracking error

Maximum of 3.5%

Average portfolio manager experience

24 years

Important disclosures

All information shown is as of September 30, 2024, unless otherwise indicated. Strategy-level information may differ from vehicle-specific information. Not all vehicles are available in all locations and may be offered through affiliates of Manulife Investment Management.


Related

Asian fixed income should take geopolitical events in stride

We believe the impact of recent geopolitical events on the pan-Asia bond market should be mostly indirect and regional fundamentals remain largely intact.
Read more

Pockets of resilience in China’s bond markets amid uncertainty

On the heels of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we saw a broad sell-off in risk assets, but China onshore bonds and the renminbi (CNY) remained relatively stable.
Read more

The Russia-Ukraine crisis and its implications for EM Asia and China

How might a Russia-Ukraine conflict affect the broader emerging-Asia debt universe and China's fixed-income market? Our experts take a closer look.
Read more