In its latest re-balance, the Evelyn Partners Core Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) team has taken new positions to afford their portfolios new exposure to UK government bonds and US equities.
James Burns, lead manager of the Evelyn Partners Core MPS, says: “There is a huge amount of market noise at the moment around the AI boom, and the surging ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks that are driving US and even global indices higher. With positions already benefitting from this trend, we believe there is value in seeking exposure to other areas of the US stock market where gains could broaden out from big tech.
“Meanwhile, we see short-to-medium dated gilts as the area of the bond market that offers best value at the moment, so within fixed income, we’re seeking more exposure there.”
New positions have been taken in the Miton US Opportunities fund and two ETFs, iShares Up To 10 Years Index-Linked Gilt Index and iShares Up To 10 Years Gilts Index.
The re-balance saw US equities increased while exposure to UK equities and, to a lesser degree, Europe was reduced. Meanwhile, sovereign bond exposure was increased at the expense of corporate bonds, continuing the trend since October 2022 of steadily increasing the weighting to government bonds across the risk profiles.
However, the overall balance between equity, fixed income and alternative assets within each model remained static.
James Burns added:
“Government bonds remain a compelling investment proposition, offering the combined benefits of attractive real yields as well as a level of portfolio insurance were a growth shock to occur. Introducing iShares Up To 10 Years Gilts Index and iShares Up To 10 Years Index Linked Gilt Index has given us dedicated UK government bond exposure. Both of these passive funds have relatively short duration, reflecting where we see most value in the UK government bond markets.
“To fund this, we trimmed back the allocation to US government conventional and index-linked bonds, although they remain dominant positions within this segment of the portfolios. Corporate bonds were also reduced as credit spreads have continued to tighten to levels that their protection characteristics have become less obvious. Where we retain exposure, it is significantly skewed to short-dated bonds that should fare relatively well in the event of any downturn.
“Supported by a relatively stable macro-economic outlook and a resilient earnings story, we see scope for the rally in US equities to broaden out from the ‘Magnificent 7’ tech stocks and have added a new holding in Premier Miton US Opportunities to take advantage of this.”
Please see the re-balance note for full details on the changes made to individual portfolios.
