1 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Credit Edge Weekly Markets Podcast. 2 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: My name is James Crumbie. I'm a senior editor at Bloomberg. 3 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 2: And I'm Tolu Alamutu, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. 4 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 2: This week, we are very pleased to welcome Tom mauld 5 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,639 Speaker 2: who is senior portfolio manager of investment grade Debt at 6 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 2: RBC Blue Bay Asset Management. How are you Tom? 7 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 3: Very good, Thank you, Jail. It's great to be. 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 2: Here, great, thank you for joining us. Tom's focus is 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 2: on European non sovereign debt. He manages Blue Bay's European 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 2: corporate strategy, including a flagship mutual fund and several bespoke mandates. 11 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 2: Tom joined Blue Bay Asset Management in December two thousand 12 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 2: and five and the investment grade team in July two 13 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 2: thousand and seven. Blue Bay is of course now part 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 2: of RBC Global Asset Management, where the total AUM exceeds 15 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 2: half a trillion dollars. 16 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 4: Tom has been instrumental. 17 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 2: In driving the success of the European id credit strategy, 18 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 2: both in absolute return and benchmark portfolios. 19 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: Over to you, James, delighted to have you Tom. Just 20 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: to set the scene a bit here before we get 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: to the questions. Credit markets are hot, with bond spreads 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: at the titles in twenty seven years, as demand saws 23 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: and net new supply remains thin. Elevated US political and 24 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: macro risk has pushed global credit investors into other markets, 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: especially Europe, to diversify portfolios, but that brings its own 26 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: challenges also political. Just look at all the volatility in 27 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: the UK brance and Holland Plus says the trade war 28 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: to contend with, and countries across the region have to 29 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: significantly boost their defense spending. Globally, in credit markets, we 30 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: are seeing more distress, default and bankruptcy, but you wouldn't 31 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: know it looking at the price. So Tom break it 32 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,639 Speaker 1: down for us, how do you position yourself in these markets? 33 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: Given elevated volatility, rising macro risk, turbulent geopolitics, but also 34 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: very tight credit spreads. 35 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 3: Hi ja Yeah, I mean, when you paint the pits, 36 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 3: you've just painted it. 37 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 5: It makes it very hard to kind of come back 38 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 5: with what I would call it a positive view. I mean, 39 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 5: it's unquestionable that you were at a point where credit 40 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 5: spreads are extremely tight and there are a whole host 41 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 5: of risks out there, and we've been probably running the 42 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 5: lowest level of credit risks that we have done for 43 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 5: for quite some time in various products. The opportunity set 44 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 5: to take kind of big beata positions, you know, clearly 45 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 5: just isn't. 46 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 3: There at the moment. 47 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 5: And if it wasn't for the kind of positive tail 48 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 5: winds impacting credit asset classes in terms of demand and supply, 49 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 5: which have obviously been incredibly strong and really fueled fueled 50 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 5: credit market spreads. Getting to these sorts of levels, you know, 51 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 5: one would be definitely thinking about maybe taking an even 52 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 5: more defensive stance, But just in the kind of short 53 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 5: to medium term, you know, it feels like some of 54 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 5: these conditions which have pushed credit markets to where they 55 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 5: are are still in place and aren't necessarily going to 56 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 5: meaningfully change anytime soon despite the risks. So you know, 57 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 5: we can definitely see a bit of a pick up 58 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 5: in volatility, but at this point in time, you know, 59 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 5: running a beta close to home. But you know, focusing 60 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 5: I mean, it's probably a bit of a boring thing 61 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 5: to say, but focusing on our for opportunities I think 62 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 5: is more appropriate. 63 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 3: And I think what's been interesting, particularly. 64 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 5: Kind of in the second half of last year and 65 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 5: this year is I think those opportunities have become a 66 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 5: lot more prevalent. You know, you're seeing a bit more 67 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 5: dispersion in credit asset classes, despite the fact that you're 68 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 5: at very tight spreads, not all completely boring. 69 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 3: I think there's some quite interesting things to play for. 70 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 5: Still. 71 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 2: One of the things that you mentioned is staying away. 72 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 2: I guess from the lowest level of credit risk, what 73 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: does that look like for you in terms of your positioning. 74 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 2: Does it mean that there's nothing there at all in 75 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 2: terms of you know, the lower part of from grade 76 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 2: and maybe high yield, or does it mean that you're 77 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 2: much more selective in terms of sectors and names and 78 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 2: so on. 79 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's much more about being selective, because I think 80 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 5: when you're in this kind of environment, if you believe 81 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 5: that spreads that are kind of going to stay where 82 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 5: they are, let's say, you know, investment grade spreads at 83 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 5: the kind of levels that we've got to, you know, 84 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 5: the longer that you stay there, you're automatically going to 85 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 5: see some compression. 86 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 3: And obviously the. 87 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 5: Last kind of part of this moving credit has been 88 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 5: people reaching for the kind of wider things which they 89 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 5: consider safe. So I think it's important too that's an 90 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 5: important part of decision making when certainly investing on alongside 91 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 5: at this point, looking for things which have some value 92 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 5: that are a bit wider, that are a bit further 93 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 5: down the credit spectrum, you know, in within investment grade. 94 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 5: It's obvious to look at the things like subordinated financials 95 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 5: and corporate hybrids. I think overall a lot of those 96 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 5: parts of the market have actually you know, got quite tight, 97 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 5: but there are still you know, really interesting situations and issuers. 98 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 5: So as you say, being selective, you know, really very 99 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 5: much is the key, and I think, like I said, 100 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 5: I think it's been working actually a lot better more recently. 101 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 3: If I jump back a few years and. 102 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 5: Think about when when investment grades spreads were as tight 103 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 5: as this in the kind of CSPP you know, ECB 104 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 5: buying period, I feel like there was a lot less 105 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 5: dispersion and a lot less kind of maybe differentiation between 106 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 5: the kind of slightly higher beta parts of the credit 107 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 5: market and the lower beat than there is now. So 108 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 5: perhaps a bit more interesting, you know, a more interesting 109 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 5: playing field still and definitely room for lower parts of 110 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 5: the credit spectrum. 111 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: What we keep hearing, though, Tom, is that it doesn't 112 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: matter what the spread is it's all about the yield. 113 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: Yields are very high and the Fed's about to cut, 114 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: so you know, those high yields, those high coupons, they 115 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: are going to be there for long. So just buy 116 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: as much as you possibly can right now. Why not 117 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: follow that strategy? 118 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, look, I think I think some people 119 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 5: are following that strategy, which is what which is kind 120 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:58,239 Speaker 5: of kind. 121 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 3: Of where we are, you know, why we are where 122 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 3: we are? You know, I think in. 123 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 5: There's no doubt there's been a big pick up in 124 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 5: the type of products which are very yield focused. We 125 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 5: keep hearing about these fixed maturity funds, you know, which 126 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 5: are kind of either targeting certain durations, targeting certain maturities, 127 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 5: which are trying to lock in yields, and you know, 128 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 5: they're they're kind of indiscriminate buyers of credit focused on yield. So, 129 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 5: you know, I think that's where it can be a 130 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 5: bit dangerous and obviously you need I think it's where 131 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 5: you need to be a bit more kind of careful 132 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 5: from the research side. And obviously you can't be an 133 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 5: indiscriminate buyer. You have to make sure that you're buying 134 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 5: things that if they are at the wider end of 135 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 5: the spectrum that you're you know, you're very sure you've 136 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 5: done a credit research on and so, and obviously you know, 137 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 5: as as an active manager on the credit side, we 138 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,919 Speaker 5: kind of pride ourselves in being good at that. 139 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 3: It's more important now than ever. 140 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 2: One of the areas that you mentioned which has piqued 141 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 2: my interest anyway, has been subordinated financials and corporate hybrids, 142 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 2: obviously relatively high beta compared to the sort of higher 143 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 2: ranking parts of issuers capital structures and so on. One issue 144 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 2: that I've had anyway looking at some of the corporate 145 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 2: hybrids in real estate has been that you've seen prices 146 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 2: go up even on securities that are not even pain anymore. 147 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: And our news colleagues as well as our BI colleagues 148 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 2: have been writing about what's happening in the additional tier 149 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 2: one market and how basically valuations are not what they 150 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 2: used to. 151 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 4: Be a couple of years ago. 152 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 2: So how are you viewing that part of the market now, 153 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 2: especially that we're given that we're seeing more and more issuance, 154 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 2: at least on the eighty one side. 155 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 4: Do you still think that there's value? 156 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 2: And as James said, you should just look at yield 157 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 2: or do you think that spreads have come in a 158 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 2: little bit too much. 159 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 5: On the financial side, it's still relatively interesting. I mean, yes, 160 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 5: spreads have moved a long way. You're much tighter spreads 161 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 5: that we've been at before. There's been a lot of compression. 162 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 5: I think the overall yields that you can get in 163 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 5: financials are still quite attractive. I mean, even in senior space. 164 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 5: You know, some people are arguing that financials versus non 165 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 5: financials for example, has compressed too much. But actually, if 166 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 5: you look back over a really long period of history, 167 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 5: you know, it's not unusual for financial senior spreads to 168 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 5: trade meaningfully inside non financial spreads. And I think where 169 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 5: we are now, after an incredibly long period of regulation 170 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 5: and improvement in fundamentals in the finance, you know, in 171 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 5: particularly in European financials, where profitabilities as good as it's 172 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 5: been an incredibly long time, it's not you know, it's 173 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 5: not difficult to imagine why we are here and why 174 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 5: we can't actually even maybe go go slightly inside. If 175 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 5: I think about comparing some of the kind of senior 176 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 5: senior non preferred financial spreads versus kind of almost like 177 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 5: cyclical industrials, and you know that them being at similar levels, 178 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 5: I think I rather be on the financial side then 179 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 5: moving into the kind of more subordinated space. You know, 180 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 5: I think if you kind of follow that theory that 181 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 5: actually financial is fundamentally in a very good place, and 182 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 5: look at the kind of yields and spreads that you 183 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 5: can still still attain in the subordinated financial space, whether 184 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 5: that's lower tier two or eighter one, there's still some 185 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 5: you know, interesting opportunities there. I think, provided your you know, 186 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 5: selective and you know, careful in your kind of credit work, 187 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 5: it's still a really good place to allocate your investments. 188 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 5: On the corporate hybrid side, I think it's you know, 189 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 5: there's probably a few more different you know, we could 190 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 5: probably have a whole podcast on corporate on corporate hybrids, 191 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 5: I think, particularly if we start talking about real estate 192 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 5: corporate hybrids, which are almost an entirely separate topic on 193 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 5: their own, I think, you know, that's that's somewhere where 194 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 5: I think you need to be particularly careful right now. 195 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 5: I mean, you know that you know, you've had a 196 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 5: you know, twenty twenty two created such a dramatic move 197 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 5: across the real estate space and clearly a lot of 198 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 5: the real estate companies that had issued corporate hybrids in 199 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,199 Speaker 5: hindsight probably looking back, thinking they rather that they hadn't. 200 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 3: You know, the price action was it was extreme. 201 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 5: And obviously there are situations now where previously investment investment 202 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 5: great companies have hybrids outstanding where they're not paying coupons, 203 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 5: et cetera. So I think there's an incredible amount to 204 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 5: in that space. You need to be incredibly selective. I mean, 205 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 5: I think at this point in time, having had such 206 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 5: a big move tighter following twenty twenty two, for me, 207 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 5: I feel quite defensive on the real estate space, particularly 208 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 5: because my view is that there are tailwinds for Europe 209 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 5: European economy that will put pressure on interest rates, I 210 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,719 Speaker 5: pressure upward pressure on interest rates, and you know, we've 211 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 5: seen time and time again over history that that doesn't 212 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 5: go too well for the real estate space. And having 213 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 5: you know, rallied back to what I would kind of 214 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 5: consider a fair value, I'd be a bit more defensive. 215 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 3: And then in other corporate hybrids. It's a very long 216 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 3: answer to. 217 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 2: Your question, but again. 218 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 5: You have the kind of bit of dispersion there. I mean, 219 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,599 Speaker 5: there's you know, you have some very cyclical names. In 220 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 5: corporate hybrids, you have some very safe names. I would 221 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 5: argue that the kind of safer utility, like certainly I 222 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 5: G rated corporate hybrids trade extremely tight at the moment, 223 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 5: and you know, are very expensive. I think the opportunity 224 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 5: set there is very limited, and so you are having 225 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 5: to like go into maybe the more the stories with 226 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 5: a little bit of should we call it hair on 227 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 5: them to maybe gain some value. 228 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 3: And I still think there's you know that that's. 229 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 5: Actually where you can get some some some interesting, some 230 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 5: interesting value for your money within the hybrid space. So 231 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 5: in all of these kinds of areas, you know that 232 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 5: the name of the game is is definitely being selective 233 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 5: at the moment. 234 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I agree with that. 235 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 2: But one of the there's a lot I want to 236 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 2: sort of go into from what you've touched on there, 237 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,319 Speaker 2: Thank you. But the first thing I was going to 238 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:06,679 Speaker 2: touch on is on financials and the effect of government interference, 239 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 2: if we want to call it that. So we've seen 240 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 2: some reports saying that there might be some sort of 241 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 2: special tax levied in the UK on banks which has 242 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 2: affected the equities, maybe not so much credit. Is that 243 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 2: a concern for you when you're looking at additional Tier 244 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 2: one or other financials instruments, whether it's seen in a 245 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 2: nonpreferred or the more junior stuff, maybe we start with that. 246 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 2: Are you concerned about government intervention? 247 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think you've always got a factor 248 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 5: that in and I think you know within financials that 249 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 5: I think the areas right now where you'd be a 250 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 5: little bit more cautious is the UK, where obviously the 251 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 5: UK does not feel in such a great place, and 252 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 5: the spill over into financial institutions and banks could definitely 253 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 5: be prevalent. So I think that warrants a bit more caution. 254 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 5: And I think the other obvious area is, you know, 255 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 5: within Europe is obviously France. I mean there's no doubt 256 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 5: that within banks, the you know, the kind of link 257 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 5: between how the solign behaves and how banks tend to 258 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 5: behaving credit is very strong. And so at this point 259 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 5: in time, looking down the barrel of kind of French volatility, 260 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 5: you know, akin to what we saw last year, got 261 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 5: a kind of factor that into what's going on in 262 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 5: French banks. But you know, French banks do trade wider 263 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 5: than I would say there they're kind of non French counterparts, 264 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 5: so there is some value there. So you could argue 265 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 5: that to some degree, there's some pricing in of that 266 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 5: volatility premium that we may well see in the coming weeks. 267 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 5: And I guess the other thing that I would kind 268 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 5: of anecdotally highlight is it feels quite clear that people 269 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 5: are more defensive already on French banks. So for example, 270 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 5: you know, in the last couple of weeks, when you 271 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 5: started seeing a bit more volatility in French assets, you know, 272 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 5: French banks obviously went wider. They were probably the biggest 273 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 5: underperformer out of the French you know, out of the 274 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 5: French assets in European credit. But at the same time, 275 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 5: you know, what we actually saw in the market was 276 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 5: people trying to buy those bonds pretty quickly on that 277 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 5: small backup, which kind of shows you that people probably 278 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 5: are underweight. There are speculative accounts that are already short by. 279 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 5: People are a bit more prepared this time round. You know, 280 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 5: last year, when you sort of suddenly moved into this 281 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 5: period of you know, the focus on French politics, it 282 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 5: was slightly out of left field, and I think people 283 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 5: were more taken by surprise and it created much bigger 284 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 5: moves in credit, So I think this time round it's 285 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 5: going to be quite interesting to kind of see how 286 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 5: how that you know, how that plays out. 287 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 3: You know, if you're in a scenario. 288 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 5: Where you know, BEAVU loses the loses the confidence vote, 289 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 5: which clearly seems fairly likely, but there is you know, 290 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 5: potentially a move to put another technocrat in place, you 291 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 5: could see French spreads calming down incredibly quickly. But on 292 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 5: the other hand, you know, if there are snap elections 293 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 5: and you know we're already seeing that, you know, some 294 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 5: of the more extreme parties have gained popularity, I think 295 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 5: that's going to be a point where you do see 296 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 5: a big pickup in volatility in European spreads in general, 297 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 5: and that will be concentrated in certainly and in French 298 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 5: banks and French domicile corporates to some degree as well. 299 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's definitely lots to discuss, I think, and we'll 300 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 2: definitely come to that in terms of the outlook for 301 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 2: French issuers, and maybe we'll even touch on some of 302 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 2: the Dutch issuers as well, given their political challenges there too. 303 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 2: But before we get on to that, you did mention 304 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 2: earlier what's going on in the real estate sector with hybrids, 305 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 2: and the fact that some issuers started off twenty twenty 306 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 2: three I think as an investment grade and they are 307 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 2: no longer there, to say the least, some. 308 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 4: Of them are even triple seen now. And I would 309 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 4: tend to agree that some. 310 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 2: Of those secues are looking fairish valued now. But one risk, 311 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 2: I guess maybe that you have further liability management like 312 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 2: buybacks and so on. Do you see that as a risk, 313 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 2: And also do you think that we need to give 314 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 2: more weight to some of the transformation programs that are 315 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 2: coming up. But some of these real estate entities, for instance, 316 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 2: we've had one entity that is no longer investment grade 317 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 2: but now has a new shareholder that's willing to put 318 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 2: more money in and so on. So there's those sorts 319 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 2: of moves as well that I guess could mean you 320 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 2: see another bump up in valuations. Is that something that 321 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 2: you think is a risk in terms of seeing it 322 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 2: as fair value or not? 323 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 4: Really? 324 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 3: I think some of those situations are are very likely 325 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 3: to happen. 326 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 5: In the kind of the names that have perhaps fallen 327 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 5: from grace quite far. I think one of the things 328 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 5: that you've seen since twenty twenty two is actually you know, 329 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 5: some very clever financial engineering by some of the real 330 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 5: estate guys where the reason some of the IG spreads 331 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 5: you know, went to eight hundred over in twenty twenty 332 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 5: two because it's because the market participants didn't think that 333 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 5: the levers would be available for these guys to pull 334 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 5: renegotiate the terms of their outstanding debt, you know, to 335 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 5: extend maturities that they would effectively be you know, falling 336 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 5: into a potential default scenario very quickly. And I think 337 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 5: it's been really fascinating to see the ability of some 338 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,640 Speaker 5: of these guys to be on the front foot and 339 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 5: how much actual access to liquidity that they did have. 340 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 5: Some of the things that you're probably alluding to were 341 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 5: very clever, you know, people doing hybrid exchanges for example, 342 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 5: enabling them to you know, kind of slightly under the radar, 343 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 5: extend you know, be quite investor friendly, extend their maturities, 344 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 5: extend their call dates, and put themselves in the position 345 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 5: where they are actually able to wear the storm. So 346 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 5: and I think you know that I think this is 347 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 5: still going to happen. It's clearly on the table, particularly 348 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 5: now that we're in a scenario where yes, rates are 349 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,400 Speaker 5: a bit high, but obviously the market feels a lot better, 350 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 5: and so people are willing to lend to these guys, 351 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 5: particularly if they have good, good assets. So I would 352 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 5: be you know, I guess the point of the question 353 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 5: and the point of the answer is I'd be quite 354 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 5: cautious on being you know, let's say outright short. For example, 355 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 5: in the kind of high the high yield names that 356 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 5: have come already come back from the brink. Yes they're 357 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 5: high yield, but they've still got very wide spreads, because 358 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 5: I think these sorts of leavers are very much on 359 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 5: the table for these guys still, and they probably will 360 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,639 Speaker 5: continue to muddle through and maybe get themselves into a 361 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 5: back into a better position. I think where the opportunity 362 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 5: perhaps to be more defensive is better is in the 363 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 5: names that are still ig that have come all the 364 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 5: way back to the kind of spread level that they 365 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,719 Speaker 5: were at pre twenty twenty two. So you could very 366 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 5: much argue that that's a fair value spread level, you know, 367 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 5: in this environment where now you've had two or three 368 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,679 Speaker 5: years of higher rates, you know, you know, their average 369 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 5: cost of funding is just naturally going to keep going up. 370 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:16,240 Speaker 3: And I think. 371 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,239 Speaker 5: Particularly for some of the issuers where their actual kind 372 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 5: of ability to grow as a company is very limited. 373 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,239 Speaker 5: You know, for example, in Germany residential it's very very 374 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 5: difficult to kind of actually get any rental growth there. 375 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 5: So let's say you've got two or three percent rental growth, 376 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,119 Speaker 5: but your cost of funding, you know, is kind of 377 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 5: a four percent over time. It's just a bit of 378 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 5: an attrition for these guys. And you know, I think 379 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 5: that's where there's just an interesting relative value argument to 380 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 5: make to zoom. 381 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: Out Tom a little bit, just look globally at the 382 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: credit landscape. You know, since April, you know, the idea 383 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: of American exceptionalism has really been tested and has been 384 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: more and more questioned as we get into questions of 385 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: you know, fed independence and governance all that stuff. So 386 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: there was a big kneeja reaction to, Okay, well everyone 387 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: needs to diversify because we're so long the US and 388 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: we need to start looking at other places and or 389 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: look Europe. That makes sense, Let's get into Europe and 390 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: then now you know, hitting the the challenges of scale 391 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,360 Speaker 1: of complexity of you know, all of the different jurisdictions 392 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: and languages and everything else. And now the political situation, 393 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: how does it look relative value wise Europe against the 394 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: US for you? 395 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 5: For me, it's a theme that I was pretty keenly 396 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 5: focused on from the kind of beginning of last year. 397 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 5: Really so I think, I know, it was much more 398 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 5: obvious theme then because at that point you had, you know, 399 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 5: if you were just like looking at European credit spreads 400 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 5: versus versus the US, you know, within investment grade and 401 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 5: you know, to some degree, within high yield, Europe looked cheaper. 402 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,479 Speaker 5: And there are a number of reasons for that, you know, 403 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 5: I think twenty twenty two was a period that really 404 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 5: kind of pushed that relationship, probably to a point where 405 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 5: it was slightly unfair. I mean, at the time, what 406 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 5: drove it there, I think was very relevant. You know, 407 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 5: you had, at the beginning of the Russia Ukraine conflict, 408 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 5: you had very high energy prices. The impact of those 409 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 5: energy prices on European companies was clearly a lot more acute. 410 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 5: You know, I think that was relatively justified. But in 411 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,720 Speaker 5: the subsequent and a couple of years, you kind of 412 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 5: this relationship of Europe being wide the US kind of 413 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,160 Speaker 5: remained in place for some time, and there's a number 414 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 5: of other kind of factors that kind of participated or 415 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,120 Speaker 5: fueled that. But I think, you know, into twenty twenty four, 416 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 5: for me, it was much more like that relationship doesn't 417 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 5: really make sense. I think Europe should trade at least flat, 418 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 5: if not slightly inside the US, and as you came 419 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 5: into the end of the year, that's kind of played out. 420 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 5: So now now we're kind of sitting with you know, 421 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 5: spreads pretty similar to each other. I mean, you could 422 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 5: make an argument that in Europe durations a bit lower, 423 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 5: so maybe the fair value slightly inside. I think you're 424 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 5: a bit fairer. I mean, I'm you know, I'm certainly 425 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 5: not going to push the US exceptionisms over. 426 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 3: You know, everything should be in Europe. I quite I 427 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 3: still have the I still quite like the bias. 428 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,800 Speaker 5: I think the kind of dynamics on the two sides 429 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,119 Speaker 5: of the Atlantic are a bit different. I think, you know, 430 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 5: in the US, it feels like you could be at 431 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 5: a point where you're obviously starting to see growth slow 432 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 5: down a little bit. There's a little bit of pressure 433 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 5: on the data, particularly on the labor side. You know, 434 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 5: people are obviously slightly concerned about that. I think in Europe, 435 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 5: to pick up in spending I mean, everybody's going to 436 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 5: be talking about this, but it's thin it. I think 437 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 5: it's quite relevant. I think the magnitude of the fiscal 438 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 5: impulse of what's coming, I think perhaps people still even underestimate. 439 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 5: And I think one of the things I'd be a 440 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 5: bit concerned about is, I mean, you're seeing it even 441 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 5: in the last few days, rates going up a bit 442 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 5: more quickly. I think, you know, you could have a 443 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 5: that theme. 444 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 3: Could you could see it a bit more prevalently. 445 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 5: I think, you know, rates going up a bit more 446 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 5: because people are saying, Okay, well, actually the fiscal is 447 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 5: going to be really quite powerful. It is going to 448 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 5: help growth, is going to mean that, you know, monetary policy. 449 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 5: He certainly isn't getting any lusive from here. So you 450 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 5: can see, you know, potentially steeper curves in Europe and 451 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 5: higher longer term rates. And that's something that I think 452 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 5: we have to factor in as investors. 453 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, the big theme right now is defense spending in 454 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: Europe issuance to support that. Is that a good fit 455 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: for your strategies? And if so, where do you put it? 456 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's a difficult one. 457 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 5: Defense in European funds has always been quite hot, but 458 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 5: it's been a hot topic for for a long time. 459 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 5: I mean, a lot of European strategies, including the strategies 460 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,919 Speaker 5: that we run here, obviously have quite a bit of 461 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 5: ESG ESG kind of rules baked into them. You know, 462 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 5: a lot of our flagship funds are articulate articulate defined 463 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 5: under the SFDR regulations. 464 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 3: And so we do have restrictions on defense. 465 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:59,159 Speaker 5: We have some restrictions on certain aspects of controversial weapons 466 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 5: actually at the company level as well. 467 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:02,880 Speaker 3: So from that perspective, there's. 468 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 5: Always a little bit of discussion in terms of, you know, 469 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 5: how we can capture this theme. It's clearly a very 470 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 5: interesting theme at the moment within Europe. 471 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 3: So there are some there. 472 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 5: Are some issues that I think a lot of European 473 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 5: asset managers just wouldn't be able to buy. And to 474 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 5: be fair, I don't necessarily think that's wrong because it's 475 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 5: the issuers that get singled out generally are the ones 476 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 5: that do manufacture controversial weapons. And I think one of 477 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 5: the things that's really difficult in this topic is it's 478 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 5: really important to work out, you know, for the issuers 479 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 5: that are in this sector, you know, where are they 480 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 5: selling their goods and services. And I think that's that's 481 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 5: where you know, there's a big debate whether should you 482 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 5: have blanket restrictions or should it be something that you 483 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 5: are able to decide on yoursels as an investor based 484 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 5: on your own research. I mean, at the moment, there 485 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 5: are these restrictions in place. Some of our fun you know, 486 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 5: some of the some of the strategies that Blue Bay 487 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 5: would would be restricted. And also within the credit space, 488 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,120 Speaker 5: certainly within ig there's actually a fairly limited opportunity set 489 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 5: as well. There aren't a tremendous number of issuers that 490 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,199 Speaker 5: focus on defense, and the ones that do focus on 491 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 5: defense actually tend to be quite high quality from a 492 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,919 Speaker 5: credit from a credit rating perspective, let's say, and actually 493 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 5: do trade are quite expensive spreads already. I mean in 494 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 5: the US that's particularly true. You know, you can think 495 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 5: of a number of really interesting issuers that are clearly 496 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 5: going to very much benefit from from this kind of 497 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,360 Speaker 5: spending coming out of Europe. But when you look at 498 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 5: you going sort of look at their bonds and you 499 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 5: think what can I include in my portfolios, you'd say 500 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 5: the opportunity set is actually generally quite limited. I think 501 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 5: it's actually, you know, I think it's going to change. 502 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 5: I mean, clearly, there's lots of spending coming in Europe. 503 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 5: It's going to catalyze a trend of people starting to 504 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,239 Speaker 5: issue more bonds into public bond markets. It is what 505 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 5: people want to go to up. It is what people 506 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 5: are going to want to see, and I think managers 507 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 5: like us obviously have to have to have a little 508 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 5: bit of a look internally and kind of think about 509 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 5: our current rules and is there some you know, is 510 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 5: there a discussion to be had in terms of modifying 511 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 5: some of those rules, because you know, on the one side, 512 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 5: I've talked about you know, I think it's very important 513 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 5: to focus on the defense companies where they're selling their 514 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 5: goods and services. But on the other hand, you know, 515 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 5: if you think from a sustainability perspective, I think the 516 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,879 Speaker 5: quote I heard the other day was, you know, you 517 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 5: can't be sustainable if you can't defend yourself, and say, 518 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 5: that's something I think we have to think. 519 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,719 Speaker 1: About as well, because the whole sort of idea of 520 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: defense is kind of morph from you know, it's offensive, 521 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: it's attacking, to it's you know, defending your country or democracy. 522 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: It's a it's a great you know, it's an asset 523 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: and now we've got labeled issuance. There was there was 524 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: a very well bid deal last week. I don't know 525 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: if you participated, but it seems to come at a 526 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: pretty good level for investors in a you know, as 527 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 1: we've discussed a very tight credit so that there must 528 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: be a ton of opportunity. But I'm interested in what 529 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 1: you said about ESG because it's one topic that you know, 530 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: eighteen months ago everyone wanted to talk about it. Now 531 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: no one wants to talk about it. Really quite a 532 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: tricky one, but you are, you know, still excited about 533 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,959 Speaker 1: the concept of impact investing. I'm interested in you know, 534 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: what that means to you and does it make you money? 535 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 3: For me, it's a. 536 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 5: Really it's a really fascinating topic, you know, ESG investing, 537 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 5: impact investing, and I think ultimately it's something that it's 538 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,200 Speaker 5: still really relevant. I mean, it's obviously very relevant in Europe. 539 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 5: You know that there has been quite a bit of 540 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 5: sentiment shift in the last kind of few years, I 541 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 5: think globally when it comes to ESG, but I think 542 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 5: we're still in a place where ESG is extremely important. 543 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 5: I think focusing on ESG as part of your investment 544 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 5: framework can genuinely help you live are better investment results 545 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,239 Speaker 5: because I think one of the misconceptions about you know, 546 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 5: ESG investing, you know, people kind of think ESG investing 547 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 5: and they just think, Okay, that's you know, sustainable investing. 548 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,440 Speaker 5: If I invest in that way, I'm going to save 549 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,879 Speaker 5: the world. And you know, I think one of the 550 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 5: things that happened in the last few years, particularly twenty 551 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 5: twenty two and into twenty twenty three, a lot of 552 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 5: the kind of ESG label products they meaningfully underperformed. It 553 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 5: was really more in the equity space as particularly the 554 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 5: individual funds as well, So ESG funds in twenty twenty two, 555 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 5: you know, particularly because they don't have they generally don't 556 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 5: have much exposure to the energy sector, and the energy 557 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 5: sector was one of the best performing sectors in twenty 558 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 5: twenty two because energy prices were high, et cetera. I 559 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,480 Speaker 5: think the energy sector was actually up meaningfully, whereas the 560 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 5: whole market was down. And so the underperformance of some 561 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 5: of the equity funds on the sustainability side was incredibly meaningful, 562 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 5: and it kind of led to this, you know, kind 563 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 5: of whole discuss that people can't therefore shouldn't be allocating 564 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 5: to ESG funds. It's you know, excluding some parts of 565 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 5: the universities, you know, contravening managers for duciary duty to 566 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,719 Speaker 5: have access to all the different, you know, interesting investments. 567 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 5: And you know, in the US, some states even went 568 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 5: so far as to actually implement anti ESG laws for 569 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 5: state you know, for state investments, which clearly politicized the 570 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 5: argument very meaningfully. So for me, ESG investing though, is about, 571 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 5: you know, ESG investing is a framework. It's a framework 572 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 5: to focus on risks associated with environments, social and governance. 573 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 5: And actually, if you are thinking about it as a 574 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 5: risk framework, it can actually really help you and be 575 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 5: quite additive. And generally what does that mean. That usually 576 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 5: means you end up with funds, You end up with 577 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 5: indices that kind of exclude things which have the highest 578 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:54,959 Speaker 5: ESG risks. And actually, when you when you kind of 579 00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 5: look at historical historical performances of ESG or ESG funds, 580 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 5: they actually tend to have a fairly decent performance, if 581 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 5: not better performance than traditional funds. And I think one 582 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 5: of the most important points is that they do it 583 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 5: with a lower volativity. So one of the one of 584 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 5: the kind of very strong themes that you see, particularly 585 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 5: in ESG equity indices that they do exhibit exhibit a 586 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 5: lower volatility, so long term risk adjuster returns tend to 587 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 5: be very good. Comparing that to impact investing, I think 588 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 5: one of the things that you know, it's most prevalent 589 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 5: with ESG in if you have just a typical ESG 590 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 5: fund or a typical ESG index, you are generally removing 591 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 5: that you know, the highest risk ESG companies. But when 592 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 5: it comes to impact investing, the contrast, the difference is 593 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 5: it's much more of a. 594 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 3: Screening in approach. 595 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 5: So we are you know, when I think particularly impact 596 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 5: investing in public markets, it's much more of a you 597 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 5: are looking for the solution providers to sustainability issues, and 598 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 5: so it's not necessarily about okay, let's just remin the 599 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 5: worst ESG names. Is about saying, Okay, these are the 600 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 5: things I think are the most important problems that we're 601 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 5: facing from a sustainability perspective. Let's find the companies that 602 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 5: are doing something about it and focus them. So it's 603 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 5: much more of a screening in approach, and you're looking 604 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 5: for kind of companies that are creating the best outcomes, 605 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 5: and you know, I think it only really works if 606 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 5: you can kind of do it in a way that 607 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 5: you're saying, yes, I want to kind of try and 608 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 5: generate some impact with my portfolio, but I need to 609 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 5: deliver returns as well. So striking that balance between returns 610 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 5: and you know, outcomes oriented impact investing, you know, for us, 611 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 5: is really key, and I think it's something you're going 612 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 5: to see more and more. And I also think it's 613 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 5: something that can really make you money as well, because 614 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 5: a lot of the themes that you know, we focus on. 615 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 5: You know, despite the fact that you've seen this kind 616 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 5: of big humpin sentiment, it's. 617 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 3: Not going away. 618 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 5: You know, all of the problems that are facing us 619 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 5: from a sustainability perspective, it's going to be very important 620 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 5: to allocate capital towards them. And I think the companies 621 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 5: that are doing this best are going to be incredibly 622 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 5: successful and they can really help you generate very interesting 623 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 5: investment returns, but then. 624 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: High political risk at the same time. You presume that, 625 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: you know, if you get into solar panels or windmills, 626 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: and you know, Donald Trump wakes up one day and 627 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: just decides to ditch the lot. You're kind of exposed 628 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: to that. 629 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 3: Right utually. 630 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think it's becoming a bit harder 631 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 5: to navigate, you know, to navigate this this world at 632 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 5: the moment, and I think the last few weeks have 633 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 5: demonstrated that quite clearly. You know, there's been some pretty 634 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 5: radical moves by Trump and US policy. It's had a 635 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 5: big impact on European issuers that do focus on renewable energy. 636 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 5: You know, I would like to think that this is 637 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 5: a relatively temporary phenomenon, you know, I think I think 638 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 5: when it comes down to it, I mean, Trump is 639 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 5: a little bit unpredictable, but at the end of the day, 640 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 5: he's focused on actually cheap energy. So I think that's 641 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 5: one of the challenges faces. You know, if we want 642 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 5: to dig into the kind of the energy topic, it's 643 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 5: going to be about making sure that we get clean 644 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 5: energy that is cost effective one way or another. 645 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 2: What do you think returns look like this year spread 646 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 2: wise and so on, Given that we've had two relatively 647 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 2: good years for credit, what do you think twenty twenty 648 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 2: five might bring at the end. 649 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 5: So sector wise, I think I guess the one small 650 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 5: sector we haven't touched upon, which I think is really 651 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 5: interesting is the satellite space. And so I think that 652 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 5: for me is one which has been incredibly interesting for 653 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 5: the last twelve months because I think sentiment has been 654 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 5: incredibly divided. Also, I think what makes it interesting is 655 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 5: it's kind of one of the areas where you can 656 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 5: play the defense theme in Europe. Now you're going to 657 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 5: be in a position where a portion of the defense 658 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 5: funding will clearly be channeled towards these sorts of operators. 659 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,960 Speaker 5: You know, jump back nine to twelve months, I think 660 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 5: sentiment in this sort of small sector was very, very weak, 661 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,799 Speaker 5: driven by competition from Stylink et cetera. And you've been 662 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,319 Speaker 5: on an incredibly large round trip and you know, you've 663 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 5: come from a place where you know, I think the 664 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,760 Speaker 5: market was very divided, but lots of people thought these 665 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 5: these guys would be under a whole lot of pressure. 666 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:25,400 Speaker 3: You know. 667 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 5: Jump forward into twenty twenty five, you've got the tail 668 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,120 Speaker 5: with the defense spending and a number of other things 669 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 5: which which are feeling them spread still I think at 670 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,799 Speaker 5: very interesting levels. So I think that's that kind of 671 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 5: ticks a few boxes in terms of things that maybe 672 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 5: stand out because away from that, and you. 673 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 3: Know, there are obviously a few individual situations. 674 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 5: I mean, I think generically in ig it's it's hard 675 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,839 Speaker 5: to kind of get too excited about any kind of 676 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,839 Speaker 5: larger sector because spreads have just got so compressed. I mean, 677 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 5: there are you know, there are things that are interesting, 678 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 5: you know, financial especial non financials we've talked about. I 679 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 5: think utilities probably screen somewhere that there is a little 680 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,000 Speaker 5: bit of value as well. I think that's partly driven 681 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 5: by the fact that you're seeing quite a lot of 682 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:15,759 Speaker 5: capex being actually channeled towards transition and you know, developing 683 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 5: new types of more clean energy. 684 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 3: But it means they need to issue. 685 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 5: A lot of bonds, and I think, you know, the 686 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 5: kind of consistent level of supply that you see in 687 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 5: the market in Europe keeps spreads a little bit wider there, 688 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:32,239 Speaker 5: so I think, and obviously there's an element of you know, 689 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 5: they're not too cyclical, so they feel a bit more defensive, 690 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 5: and so the evaluation argument's a bit better there. Look, 691 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 5: I mean, so far, credit performance this year has been 692 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,719 Speaker 5: obviously very very good. We've reached the tightest levels. What's 693 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 5: it going to be like into the end of the yet. Look, 694 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 5: I think my base case would be September is going 695 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,439 Speaker 5: to be a little bit wobbily, you know. I think 696 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,200 Speaker 5: it's seasonally a week month. We're going to have lots 697 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 5: of supply. I think you could have, you know, some 698 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,880 Speaker 5: volatility driven by France, but I think coming into the 699 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 5: end of the year will probably be a fairly good 700 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,840 Speaker 5: for credit. You know, A hasten to say, it's a 701 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,759 Speaker 5: bit of a wider than tighter, and we can end 702 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 5: up finishing the year on a fairly good note. But 703 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,399 Speaker 5: I think that's that's probably the path forward from where 704 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 5: we are now. I think, you know, the conditions that 705 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,800 Speaker 5: pushed credit spreads to where they are do remain in place. 706 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 5: I think overall, I mean the camp that growth remains 707 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 5: okay in the US, and you know, and I think 708 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:33,800 Speaker 5: the tailwinds. 709 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:34,720 Speaker 3: In Europe are probably slightly greater. 710 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 5: So those things, you know, along with the fact that 711 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,759 Speaker 5: we've got interesting yields. Spreads are very tight, but you've 712 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,759 Speaker 5: got a tremendous amount of demand coming into credit in 713 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 5: both the US and Europe at these sorts of levels 714 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,759 Speaker 5: from fixed maturity funds. I think you're seeing interesting developments 715 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 5: in things like active ETFs. You know, there's lots of 716 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:59,320 Speaker 5: kind of new products, which are are you know, facilitating 717 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:02,760 Speaker 5: access to the market. I think you've got cross currency 718 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,400 Speaker 5: dynamics from other parts of the world making European credit 719 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,799 Speaker 5: look a bit more interesting as well. So all these 720 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 5: things will will help. I think if you do have 721 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:13,839 Speaker 5: a backup in September and you do see a bit 722 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 5: of volatility, I think there's plenty of plenty of firepower 723 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,279 Speaker 5: on the side to re engage with the market and 724 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,080 Speaker 5: maybe take us back to not necessarily the tights, but 725 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,200 Speaker 5: market in relatively decent shape. 726 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 1: I think what Totally was also asking kind of was 727 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: what's your edge in terms of, you know, how you 728 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: differentiate yourself, which I will which I will get to. 729 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,319 Speaker 1: But when we ask people that on this show, they 730 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: mostly say structure, products, clos and everyone loves private credit. 731 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: So I'm wondering, what's your view right now in private 732 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 1: against public You know that the yields seem great opportunity 733 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,080 Speaker 1: of the century. 734 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:52,359 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I. 735 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 5: Think public credit is far superior, coming from a domestic 736 00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 5: bias of being heavily involved in public credit. But look, 737 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:06,839 Speaker 5: it's easy to it's easy to trash private credit at 738 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 5: the moment, I think, you know, you're seeing rising, you 739 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,319 Speaker 5: are seeing you know, default rates, especially in leverage loans 740 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 5: in the US, go up a bit. You know, it's 741 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 5: been a tremendous few years of an explosion in terms 742 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 5: of the assets that have gone there. You know, is 743 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,320 Speaker 5: it this kind of big kind of disaster waiting to happen? 744 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 5: I look, I mean, I think it's easy to be concerned. 745 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:29,920 Speaker 5: It's probably right to be concerned. I think if you 746 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 5: had a credit downturn right now, if we did kind 747 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 5: of slip into a period where growth and weaker, then 748 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:39,720 Speaker 5: I think it would be a problem. 749 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,439 Speaker 3: Do I think it would be a systemic issue. I don't. 750 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:45,279 Speaker 3: I personally don't think it would. You know, I kind 751 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 3: of do subscribe. 752 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:49,400 Speaker 5: To the notion that actually, you've taken a lot of 753 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 5: this debt off, you know, leathered bank balance sheets into 754 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 5: unleathered format or certainly less leathered format, which provides some 755 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,799 Speaker 5: element of cushion. So I think that's kind of quite 756 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,360 Speaker 5: an interesting concept to think about. But yeah, look, I 757 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 5: mean I think they'll they'll probably be a point where 758 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 5: you know, you do see you do see losses, and 759 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 5: people get very concerned. You know, I think at this 760 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,960 Speaker 5: point in time. Public markets provide a tremendous amount of 761 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,359 Speaker 5: flexibility for people. You know, the returns on offer are 762 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 5: actually pretty good. Liquidity is obviously a lot better. In 763 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,480 Speaker 5: my sort of sales pitch of public versus private, i'd 764 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,880 Speaker 5: probably highlight those points. There are definitely concerns on the 765 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 5: private side, but I yeah, probably not. 766 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 3: I'm not going to go into the bang the doom 767 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,720 Speaker 3: and gloom drum too hard. 768 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:40,839 Speaker 1: But you just don't do it. You just don't have 769 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:43,040 Speaker 1: the ability to do private is that right? Or you 770 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:44,239 Speaker 1: could do it, we just don't want to. 771 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,719 Speaker 3: We don't do private credit here on our side. Note 772 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 3: so I mean obviously I'm part of the investment grade 773 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 3: team and so we it's not it's not part of 774 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:56,920 Speaker 3: our product suite. 775 00:39:58,239 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 2: I think if we can dig a little bit in 776 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 2: to that sales pitch that you mentioned of public versus 777 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 2: private credit without giving all the secrets away, maybe you 778 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,359 Speaker 2: can touch a little bit more on what you mean 779 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,080 Speaker 2: by far superior in the public markets, because I'm sure 780 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 2: that will raise a few eyebrows. 781 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 4: Are you saying far superior. 782 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:22,600 Speaker 2: In terms of default or maybe the visibility point that 783 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,799 Speaker 2: you touched on, or maybe it's even returns. And if 784 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 2: it's returns, like how differentiated or superior do you think 785 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:35,600 Speaker 2: public market returns might be versus private. 786 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 5: But obviously that comment was slightly tongue in cheek, like 787 00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 5: I say, I'm not I'm not the private credit expert, 788 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,880 Speaker 5: so I'm not really going to hound the private credit 789 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:46,640 Speaker 5: side too hard. I think the returns on offer, it's hard. 790 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:48,399 Speaker 5: It's hard to kind of look back over the last 791 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 5: few years and say and say anything too negative because 792 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,080 Speaker 5: the returns are being incredibly consistently good. You know, you 793 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,600 Speaker 5: give up some liquidity, you are at a point where 794 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,040 Speaker 5: you can be a bit more. And I think about 795 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:04,799 Speaker 5: credit quality. You know, you have now had probably two 796 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 5: or three years where within private credit interest rates have 797 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 5: been much higher on the kind of floating rate loans. 798 00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,920 Speaker 5: That's clearly going to put some pressure, you know, some 799 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,799 Speaker 5: pressure within the space. And you know, obviously there's been 800 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 5: lots of chat about the level of picks and there 801 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,680 Speaker 5: are warning signs there. So at this point in time, 802 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 5: you know, if you're if you're looking at the kind 803 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,480 Speaker 5: of returns on offer, I think from you know, from 804 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 5: a good active manager in the public space that you 805 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:36,880 Speaker 5: know can outperform the market, you know, give you, provide 806 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 5: you with a lot of liquidity. It's got to be 807 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 5: at least a very very good competitive comparison. And yeah, 808 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,080 Speaker 5: you know there's room for both. But but I think 809 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 5: maybe you're shifting into a period where the flexibility that 810 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 5: public market products offer you, you know, maybe maybe gives 811 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:56,600 Speaker 5: it that slight attraction. 812 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 1: So what's your edge, Tom, What's the thing that you 813 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,839 Speaker 1: do that no one else does. What's the most contrariant 814 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:03,759 Speaker 1: thing you've got up your sleeve? 815 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,120 Speaker 3: Was it the impact? 816 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,280 Speaker 1: Is it? I know, defense? Is it European banks? What's 817 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:11,480 Speaker 1: the trade right now that you know you think is 818 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:13,319 Speaker 1: going to get helper for this year? 819 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:14,080 Speaker 3: Yeah? 820 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:15,840 Speaker 5: Look, I mean I think the most interesting thing is 821 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:19,800 Speaker 5: particularly because the last few years, people have really shied 822 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 5: away from investing from a sustainability perspective. So I would 823 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:25,960 Speaker 5: just urge people to think about that, think about the 824 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:29,799 Speaker 5: fact that it can actually be additive to returns as 825 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:33,399 Speaker 5: well as actually doing something that's really meaningful. I don't 826 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 5: think there are a lot of managers out there that 827 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:39,799 Speaker 5: kind of take this concept, you know, far enough or 828 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,520 Speaker 5: to the extremes. So I think that's something that where 829 00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:48,600 Speaker 5: we do differentiate ourselves here with the strategy that we run. 830 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 5: So I would, I guess urge people to have a 831 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,480 Speaker 5: think about that, and you know, look across the market 832 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:56,560 Speaker 5: for strategies that are similar. I think it's really important 833 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:02,480 Speaker 5: that people do allocate their capital or more thoughtfully going forward. 834 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,879 Speaker 5: And it's very much something that can can tick both 835 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,200 Speaker 5: boxes in terms of you know, making a difference and 836 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 5: generating returns. 837 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:15,319 Speaker 2: So you touched on a lot of the opportunities that 838 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:17,560 Speaker 2: you see, and at the start of the program we 839 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,319 Speaker 2: talked about some of the things that keep others up 840 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:24,800 Speaker 2: at night, whether it's geopolitical risk or parish. 841 00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:24,879 Speaker 4: And so on. 842 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:28,440 Speaker 2: But what keeps Blue Bay up at night then, or 843 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:31,040 Speaker 2: what keeps you as a fund manager at Blue Bay 844 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:32,680 Speaker 2: up at night at this point. 845 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:37,799 Speaker 5: My two children. Obviously that's not my answer, but so 846 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,359 Speaker 5: I don't want to deviate too much. I mean, the thing, 847 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:45,520 Speaker 5: the thing that I think is most that will have 848 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 5: the biggest negative impact on markets in the near terms 849 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 5: if we do see if we do see weak growth 850 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,799 Speaker 5: in the US. It's a boring answer, but I think 851 00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:58,400 Speaker 5: that's the thing that's you know, the jury is a 852 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,360 Speaker 5: bit out and you know, we've seen a few periods 853 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:04,000 Speaker 5: in the last kind of year or two where you've 854 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:06,320 Speaker 5: seen sort of dips in the data and suddenly people 855 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:07,920 Speaker 5: start talking about procession. 856 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:09,240 Speaker 3: I think it's very much. 857 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:14,120 Speaker 5: Out of people's mindset for the for the most part currently, 858 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,200 Speaker 5: but it's the thing that I think would would kind 859 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:21,000 Speaker 5: of facilitate the biggest move in markets if we were 860 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,040 Speaker 5: to see you know, another very weak payrolls print and 861 00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,240 Speaker 5: we saw you know, kind of weaker economic data. 862 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:28,879 Speaker 3: I think that's that's probably the. 863 00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:31,480 Speaker 5: Thing I think, you know, I think we haven't touched 864 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,160 Speaker 5: on tariffs very much, which I think is another interesting 865 00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:36,600 Speaker 5: kind of topic where we haven't really seen them the. 866 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:37,880 Speaker 3: Impact of tariffs yet as well. 867 00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:42,319 Speaker 5: So I think that's something worth you know, contributing a 868 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,160 Speaker 5: little bit of time too when you go to sleep 869 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:49,440 Speaker 5: in terms of being concerned, because you know, I think 870 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 5: you could you could be you could be at a 871 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,640 Speaker 5: point down not too far down the line, where you 872 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,759 Speaker 5: do start seeing, well, you start you know, seeing how 873 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:00,200 Speaker 5: companies are passing on the potential tariff costs. Are you 874 00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:02,040 Speaker 5: going to see it in higher prices? Are you going 875 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,960 Speaker 5: to see it in margin pressure? And therefore, you know, 876 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,960 Speaker 5: pressure on earnings, which is clearly something that the market, 877 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:10,719 Speaker 5: you know, will focus on as well. So I think 878 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:15,480 Speaker 5: that's something which I think is worth thinking about. And 879 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:17,799 Speaker 5: obviously we've talked about France, but you know, it's just 880 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:20,720 Speaker 5: in the very here and now that's probably the third 881 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:22,880 Speaker 5: thing to be kind of a bit concerned about, particularly 882 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,080 Speaker 5: from a European perspective. 883 00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 1: Great stuff, Tom Molds with RBC Blue Bay Asset Management 884 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,400 Speaker 1: in London. Many thanks for joining us on the Credit Edge. 885 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:33,640 Speaker 3: Pleasure. Great to be here, guys, Thank. 886 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:36,400 Speaker 1: You, and of course very grateful to Tolu Alamutu with 887 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,400 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Intelligence. Thanks for joining us today. 888 00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:41,560 Speaker 4: Great to be here, Thank you, James, Thank you Tom. 889 00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,440 Speaker 1: For more credit market analysis and insight, read all of 890 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:47,759 Speaker 1: Tolou's great work on the Bloomberg terminal. Bloomberg Intelligence is 891 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:50,120 Speaker 1: part of our research department, with five hundred analysts and 892 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,640 Speaker 1: strategists working across all markets. Courage includes over two thousand 893 00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:57,000 Speaker 1: equities and credits, plus outlooks on more than ninety industries 894 00:45:57,200 --> 00:46:01,040 Speaker 1: and one hundred market induices, currencies and come out. Please 895 00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:03,799 Speaker 1: do subscribe to the Credit Edge wherever you get your podcasts. 896 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:07,000 Speaker 1: We're on Apple, Spotify and all other good podcast providers. 897 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:10,279 Speaker 1: Including the Bloomberg terminal at b pod Go, give us 898 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:13,800 Speaker 1: a review, tell me your friends, or email me directly 899 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:18,240 Speaker 1: at Jcromby eight at Bloomberg dot net. I'm James Crombie. 900 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:19,799 Speaker 1: It's been a pleasure to having you join us again 901 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:21,479 Speaker 1: next week on the Credit Edge