The Pender Corporate Bond Fund was flat in November, returning precisely 0.0%. The neutral overall portfolio return was, in large measure, the result of gains in the AAA government bonds (as yields fell in the […]
Articles by Geoff Castle
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.4%1 in October. During the month the Fund faced several headwinds, including rising risk-free rates, a widening spread environment across all bands of corporate credit, and also particular weakness […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.1%1 in September. While increasing investor risk appetites were positive for credit in general, rising yields across the curve in both Canada and the United States were enough to […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in August, a result slightly above the run-rate securities yield. Strong performers for the Fund in August included Aimia preferred shares, which rallied on the sale of that […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.3% in July, a result fairly close to the underlying run-rate yield of the securities held. Strong performers for the Fund in July included our position in bonds and […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.7% in June. A good result given the emergence of some headwinds in credit as spreads widened somewhat in the latter part of the month. Strong performers for the […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.8% in May, delivering steady progression amidst a somewhat turbulent market picture. Strong performers for the Fund in May included our position in debt units of Gran Colombia Gold, […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.6% in April, a reasonably good result given the continuing upward bias of the trend in interest rates. Strong performers for the Fund in April included our position in […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.2% in March, a good result within difficult market conditions. Strong performers for the Fund in March included our position in convertible notes of Amyris, which rallied more than […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in February, not a large gain but, within the context of generally weak market conditions, an acceptable result. Strong performers for the Fund in February included our position […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 2.2% in January, a very strong result which was aided by a few key catalyst events that allowed us to overcome somewhat difficult credit market conditions. Strong performers for […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in December and 7.8% for 2017. While there are always a few missed opportunities, we are generally pleased with how the year turned out. The Fund enjoyed another […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.1% in November, a result lower than the potential run-rate return we see in the portfolio but, within the context of a choppy market, not altogether disappointing.
There is no longer an “easy button” in fixed income whereby investors can earn relatively high real returns from invested instruments guaranteed by the government. While most investors still construct their portfolio with a mix […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.6% in October, a fairly good result consistent with the Fund’s more cautious recent positioning. The monthly return was approximately equal to coupons received with a small portion of […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.8% in September, a decent result given that the bond market showed broad-based weakness. The Fund’s short duration and positioning in discounted credits allowed us to make money in […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund had a flat result in August, neither losing nor gaining materially in overall net asset value. A group of bonds that declined in price offset the coupon income we received […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in July, a reasonable result in a market that saw significant drawdowns in the benchmark credit indices. Driving the performance of the Fund in July was strong appreciation […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.3% in June, a reasonably good result given generally weak performance of credit markets. Helping this performance was our position in the convertible notes of EnerNOC Inc, which jumped […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in May. Leading this performance was our position in the distressed credit of Global Brokerage Inc, which surprised creditors positively with a $56M non-core asset disposition. We saw […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.3% in April. Although certain credits gained, others were weaker in the month and the net effect of winners and losers was this very modest total. Winners included demand-side […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.8% in March. This was a good result, especially given the general weakness in credit markets during the period. The Fund benefited from strength in a number of discounted […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.8% in February. We view this return as reasonable for the period, given the lower credit spread environment, combined with our own more cautious risk positioning. Our February returns […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.3% in January. This was a good, if unspectacular, result. Driving our returns in January was the increase in price of a number of discounted bonds, combined with our […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 2.2% in December and 23.7% for the full year 2016. This was a very good result, well ahead of our benchmark and, frankly, ahead of our own expectations. During […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.8% in November. This was a reasonably good result, given the state of the bond market in general. During the month, yields on longer-dated bonds rose significantly, continuing a […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 2.9% in October, a very good result. Driving the strong performance during the month were a couple of key events: first was Sandridge Energy’s October 7 emergence from bankruptcy […]
During the week of October 4, 2016, Sandridge Energy emerged from its re-organization and the positions in both the Pender Corporate Bond Fund and the Pender Value Fund were converted to new Sandridge common equity […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.5% in September which was a positive, if unexciting, result. For the quarter, which included strong returns in July and August, the Fund returned 4.8%. During the month, the […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund had a strong month, returning 2.8% in August. The month saw strength from a variety of different credits as bonds purchased at discounts moved towards par. In general, we see […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.5% in July. This month was characterized by a change in leadership by sector as commodity credit was quite weak with the pullback in crude oil prices while consumer […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.5% in June. This period was relatively turbulent in credit markets and our daily NAV was a bit bumpier than we would have liked, with the days immediately preceding […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 2.1% in May. This good result, well ahead of our benchmarks, was driven by broad-based strength in the portfolio. Of particular impact was the gain in our holding of […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund achieved a return of 4.8% in the month of April. This very good result was the consequence of strong capital appreciation in a number of holdings. The most notable move, […]
March was a positive month for the Pender Corporate Bond Fund, with the value of the portfolio rising 3.1%*. For the first quarter, which included a significant sell-off and rebound in high yield credit, the […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.4% in February, with that rather unremarkable result belying the considerable mid-month volatility that took place. After a steep drop in the first ten days, the Fund rallied more […]
Monthly Update The Pender Corporate Bond Fund ended the month of January with a decline of 0.78%*. While this performance was better than most funds in the category, the negative performance was nevertheless disappointing, coming […]
Early in 2016, we are witness to a “hard assets” liquidation frenzy, the likes of which have not been seen for many years. The great commodities supercycle that was supposed to accompany the rise of […]
Monthly Update The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -1.6%* in December. Price declines were fairly broad-based across the Fund but particularly impacted longer-duration and lower-rated securities. Most of the price movement took place in the […]
In challenging circumstances, the Pender Corporate Bond Fund was off 2.7%* through the month of November. The month was generally weak across the board in high yield markets, a product of tax-loss selling combined with […]
The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.2%* in October. Performance was assisted by strong returns in a number of new holdings including the basket of credit closed end funds acquired in September, as well as […]
Incoming Pender Corporate Bond Fund manager, Geoff Castle, brings a strong credit discipline to the Pender investment team. Here, we focus on sector exposures and the areas of opportunity he sees in the market.
Incoming Pender Corporate Bond Fund manager, Geoff Castle, brings a strong credit discipline to the Pender investment team. Here, we focus on how he is addressing the balance between credit quality, default risk and realizing […]
Fund Repositioning Upon assuming in-house management of the Pender Corporate Bond Fund in early September, we acted quickly to make a few important changes to the composition of the Fund. We sold a number of […]
