How to select bonds in a challenging environment

Bonds have been hitting headlines for all the wrong reasons of late. In 2022 we saw a fall in bond prices with the accompanying substantial rise in yields. And in 2023 we’ve seen Silicon Valley Bank collapse following its failure to liquidate its long-dated bond portfolio successfully. Added to this, Credit Suisse’s additional tier one bonds were completely written off in the wake of the bank’s rescue by UBS. Investors might be left feeling perplexed. Do bonds actually still have a place in a modern portfolio? In this episode of the Beyond Markets podcast series: ‘How to select bonds in a challenging environment’, Roman Frey, Head of Julius Baer Fixed Income Investment Management and Dario Messi, Fixed Income Research Analyst, talk to Bernadette Anderko, to share their insights into the world of bond investing, explaining just why they believe bonds have a vital role to play in diversifying a portfolio, and how best to approach bond selection in today’s difficult inflationary environment.