The Pender Corporate Bond Fund enjoyed a strong August, gaining 2.4%[1], within the context of a favorable return environment. August saw broad-based strength from our positions in the precious metals sector. Leading the way was our stake in Equinox Gold Corp. converts, which gained more than 20% on a strong earnings report and continuing upward movement in […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund enjoyed a profitable July, returning 1.5%[1]. The good result was due to a number of holding-specific catalyst events that allowed the Fund to outperform benchmarks. One key contributor for the period was our stake in the capital structure of Esperion Therapeutics Inc. Management’s successful efforts in extending the cholesterol-lowering drug […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 1.8%[1] in June amid market conditions that were generally favorable. The biggest driver of performance in June was our position in entities exposed to platinum, including our holding of convertible bonds in South-African platinum metals group miner, Sibanye Stillwater Limited, and our position in abrdn Physical Platinum Shares, which […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.4%[1] in May. This performance was the result of a few significantly lower marks in distressed credits, offsetting a broadly positive movement across most of the Fund’s holdings. Performance Discussion The Fund’s loss in the period resulted from significant movements in holdings of Wolfspeed, Inc., New Fortress Energy Inc. […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -3.0%[1] in April, a sobering result within the context of a turbulent market. Credit spreads reset significantly wider and yield curves steepened during the month. Performance Discussion Our single largest impact was in the Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc. capital structure. Spirit’s bonds and reorganized equity fell approximately 10% and […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.4% in March, which was a modest loss in the context of the credit market of that specific period. However, subsequent events, in particular the impact of the April 2 US tariff announcement, render a detailed discussion of March results somewhat insignificant in comparison to addressing developments in recent […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned 0.9%[1] in February, which was a positive month for the bond market overall. Top contributors to the month’s return included a few distressed lines, including the bonds of Spirit Airlines, Inc. which rallied on a bid for the restructuring airline from competitor Frontier Airlines. Also performing were some key […]

Highlights Top contributors included Spirit Airlines 8% notes, the convertible notes of Equinox Gold and Sibanye Stillwater, and Canadian Real Return bonds. Detractors included Jervois Global bonds due the announcement of a Chapter 11 earlier in the month. New positions in the Fund include newly issued convertible bonds from B2Gold Corporation and additions to our […]

Highlights Strong performance in December; top contributors included the preferred shares issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which tripled in value during 2024, a term loan in American Tire Distributors Inc, and the convertible bonds of Revance Therapeutics Inc. Detractors this month were rate sensitive holdings including longer duration TIPS, Cardlytics Inc, and MP […]

Highlights Positive contributors included preferred shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which, in the wake of the US election, gained over 100%, after which we sold down the position. Gains also came from the successful debt restructuring of Spirit Airlines Inc, Porch Group Inc secured notes, and American Tire Distributors Inc. Detractors included STEM […]

Highlights Key positive contributors included the secured bonds of Spirit Airlines Inc., Lucid Group Inc., and the preferreds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Detractors included American Tire Distributors Inc., a small portfolio weight, which filed a surprise Chapter 11. New positions included: Fair Isaac Corp., which provides credit analytics and related software services, and […]

Highlights September was a positive month for the Fund, with contributions from Hughes Satellite Systems first lien bond as well as precious metal securities. In the long run, our guess is that North America is ultimately headed back to some form of yield curve control, along the lines of what we currently see in Japan […]

Highlights Key performance contributors included convertible bonds in Revance Therapeutics Inc., OPKO Health Inc., and Cineplex Inc. Key detractor was Stem Inc. We added weight to several lines of existing credits including Crowdstrike Holdings Inc, which we consider an extremely strong credit, and to our existing holdings of Canadian real return bonds. The Pender Corporate […]

Highlights Key contributors included Desktop Metal Inc. convertible bonds, Emergent BioSolutions 2028 notes, Lucid Group and OPKO Health convertible bonds. New positions included: Spirit Airlines 2025 secured notes, 5.75% convertible notes of PNM Resources, and 2027 notes of Energean PLC. The Pender Corporate Bond Fund enjoyed another profitable period in July, returning 2.6%[1]. Several specific […]

Highlights Performance drivers included our positions McDermott International Ltd and Hughes Satellite Systems Corp. Detractors included issuers active in producing materials for clean energy industries, including platinum group miner Sibanye Stillwater and rare earths processor MP Materials. We view the sector as a long-term growth industry and continue to build positions here. Portfolio additions included […]

Highlights The Fund enjoyed one of its best performing months in May. Key contributors were Novavax convertible bonds, Fannie Mae preferred shares, Lucid Group Inc., Emergent BioSolutions, and OPKO Health Inc., along with numerous Canadian preferred shares. Two detractors were EchoStar Corp and American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc. The Pender Corporate Bond Fund enjoyed one […]

Highlights: Higher risk-free rates offset line-item strength in the portfolio. Positive performance in areas including cinemas helped our positions. We continue to look beyond a single macro idea to other options to generate returns. We initiated positions in the convertible bonds of Revance Therapeutics Inc. and the secured bonds of Porch Group Inc. After an […]

Highlights Large positive moves came from some deeply discounted bonds including Esperion’s 2025 notes, Lucid Group’s 2026 convertible bonds, and 2028 bonds of Emergent BioSolutions. Convertible bonds in Equinox Gold (2029) and OPKO Health (2029) provided further gains. The wide valuation divergence between certain pockets in the credit markets and the tight spreads in the […]

Highlights: Positive contributors included convertible notes from Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. and Bandwidth Inc., and from our position in Lucid Group. A few weak spots included our position in the credit of SSR Mining Inc due to operational challenges at that company's Copler mine in Turkey. However, we believe the credit coverage of the 2039 notes […]

Highlights: Through December and January, the Fund initiated a position in the bonds of Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. which is the largest worldwide pure-play company in the mining and refining of platinum group metals. January saw a selloff in Canadian investment grade bonds and limited gains in high yield indices. Esperion Therapeutics Inc. was the Fund’s […]

Highlights: December’s outperformance was driven by some deeply discounted and distressed lines including the preferred shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which rallied more than 30%. We added to our position in McDermott International Ltd. at deeply discounted prices. Select off-the-run and unrated bonds remain extremely attractive where the value of the issuing companies […]

Highlights: November saw a major turn in bond market direction leading to positive returns throughout the fixed income markets. Investment grade securities staged a huge turnaround and there were some very strong returns amongst higher grade, long-duration securities. New positions include the deeply discounted notes of California-based Stem Inc., a software provider that enables renewable […]

Highlights: October was a volatile month characterized by sharply lower risk asset prices combined with higher risk-free rates across the curve. We are generally constructive on the bond market heading into the end of the year. In October we continued to find opportunity in discounted longer-tenor opportunities. The Pender Corporate Bond Fund emerged from a […]

Highlights The Fund had several pockets of strength in September, including energy-related securities, a pharma company, and U.S.-based marijuana companies. Higher risk-free rates caused most bonds within the Fund to fall in price. We have become more constructive on longer duration issues due to a vastly improved risk/reward equation. The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned […]

Highlights: • Positive contributors to the Fund were Cineworld Group PLC and Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Detractors included Canadian rate-reset preferred shares due to negative price momentum, and Emergent BioSolutions, which we have added to on price weakness. • New positions include Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund (NAD US Equity), a closed-end fund […]

Highlights: Positive contributors included First Majestic Silver Corp., which rallied from multi-year lows, and our holdings of Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. notes, which attracted bids due to their attractive double-digit yield to a 2025 put date. Positive performance was offset by several investment grade securities, which were influenced by higher risk-free rates. Line-item credit weakness […]

Highlights Positive contributors included: Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to be acquired leading to a gain of more than 10% in that position; OPKO Health Inc. on the FDA’s approval of the company’s NGENLA growth hormone therapy; Carriage Services Inc. rallied over 5% on a takeover bid from a trade buyer; and Fannie Mae preferred shares also […]

Highlights Overall, a choppy month from a combination of wider credit spreads, higher sovereign rates and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling. Positive contributors were Cineworld Group PLC, Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Emergent BioSolutions Inc as catalysts emerged for these severely discounted bonds. Canadian rate-reset preferreds are at levels last seen in 2016. History suggests […]

Highlights The strongest contributors to the Fund were Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc., Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Esperion Therapeutics Inc., and Bausch Health. Decliners in the Fund included McDermott International Inc., PHI Group Inc., and American Tire Distributors Inc. In April, the Fund added a new position in DISH Network Corporation which is building out an ambitious 5G […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.5%[1] in March. Although the period was a strong one for the high-grade part of the portfolio, a few idiosyncratic events in particular lines and widening spreads in lower-tier credit holdings led to a net negative result for the month. Highlights Most of the Fund’s investment grade holdings were […]

Highlights The Pender Corporate Bond Fund had a relatively strong performance amidst a market that saw larger price declines in both high yield and investment grade bond benchmarks. We added a position in the 2028 unsecured bonds of Brazilian payments processing specialist, StoneCo Ltd. An equity portfolio holding of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company’s bonds […]

Highlights Most of the holdings of the Pender Corporate Bond Fund rose as lower benchmark yields coincided with narrowing spreads for corporate bonds. Significant performers included positions in discounted convertible bonds as holdings in Eventbrite Inc., Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. and Esperion Therapeutics Inc. each gained in excess of 10%. New positions included recycling an […]

Highlights Positive contributors in December were Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings Company Limited, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., and Carriage Services, Inc., while detractors included National CineMedia LLC, and rising government bond yields that drove investment grade bond prices lower. In December, we initiated a position in Bandwidth Inc., a maker of software for web applications […]

HIGHLIGHTS We expect a further easing of inflation pressures as consumers and companies digest the impact of significantly higher rates. We find the prices of relatively strong corporate credits in the three to seven-year tenors to be very attractive. There are plenty of excellent issuers with credit yields of more than 6%. What could happen […]

Highlights During October there were some bright spots and some challenges, the latter from lower prices across the investment-grade bond complex reacting to a higher yield curve. Bright spots included our positions in McDermott International, Ltd., PetSmart, Inc. The Fund’s flexible mandate opens up opportunities across a variety of security types (term loans, straight bonds, […]

Highlights: The Fund has thus far held above the summer lows, all the while seeing much improved forward-looking returns available in credit markets. The four factors to identify good entry points are: price, positioning, flows and sentiment…we believe those factors are looking very positive, especially for the higher quality strata of the bond market. We […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund continued its rebound from the summer’s lows, returning 0.4[1] in August. Download PDF The Fund’s return was bolstered by strong line-item performance in some high conviction credits including Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) 2% convertible notes of 2026, which rallied more than 10% due to a substantial reduction in the […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund emerged from July with a positive return of 1.9%[1]. The compressed spring of lower bond prices unwound a bit in the month as a potential slowdown in inflation provided the occasion for a celebratory rally. That inflation slowdown also had positive implications for our sister Fund, the Pender Bond Universe […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund emerged from June, a volatile month, down 3.2%[1]. Although the result was hardly what we had hoped for, the month did seem to show signs of slowing inflation which may be an important potential catalyst for reversing the current market weakness. Download PDF There were not many portfolio bright spots […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund finished a volatile May with a NAV total return of approximately -0.7%[1]. Lower bond prices in the portfolio more than offset the growing level of current income in the Fund that has reached its highest level since the spring of 2020. Download PDF There were several bright spots in the […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -1.6%1 in April. In a tough market, the Fund continued its streak of outperforming its benchmark and category. Download PDF In a market without many bright spots, we benefitted from a few. Continued optimism around the prospective end of the conservatorship of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) led to further […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.4%[1] in March. While we never celebrate losses, it is worth noting that the Fund’s monthly loss was less than a third of that of the high yield index for the same period and over two percentage points above the Canadian bond universe. In short, it was a volatile […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund delivered a result of -0.5%[1] in February, a period of relatively strong performance in a market beset by numerous headwinds, one of which was a spread-widening in credit. Download PDF Bright spots for the Fund included some positions in the precious metals sector, as both SSR Mining Inc. and First […]

In the tumultuous opening month of 2022, the Pender Corporate Bond Fund declined -0.9%[1]. A result not in the direction we would have hoped but, still, relatively solid given the market context. January saw fairly steep declines in both high-yield and investment-grade credit as investors came to terms with a new Fed tightening cycle. Download […]