AB GLOBAL BOND FUND Class A: ANAGX / Class C: ANACX / Advisor Class: ANAYX
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Taxable MAR 3.31.16 AB GLOBAL BOND FUND Class A: ANAGX / Class C: ANACX / Advisor Class: ANAYX PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE national security fears in the euro region, which could lead to more In March, the Global Bond Fund generated positive absolute returns support for a “Brexit” at the referendum in June. and solidly outperformed its benchmark (net of fees), the Barclays Global Aggregate Index (USD hedged). In the year to date, the Fund WHAT WORKED AND WHAT DIDN’T WORK IN MARCH? also had positive returns, but has lagged the benchmark. Contributors + Sector selection: our exposures to US agency risk-sharing HOW DID THE MARKETS MOVE IN MARCH? transactions and US high-yield corporates, overweight in US >> The first quarter ended with a relief rally across financial markets. investment-grade corporates and underweight to US agency Commodity prices rose from multidecade lows, volatility eased, the mortgages US dollar weakened and return-seeking assets such as high-yield bonds and emerging-market debt rebounded from the weakness + Security selection: selections within US investment-grade early in the year. corporates and US commercial mortgage-backed securities >> In March, fixed-income sectors had positive absolute returns + Country/yield curve: positioning along the Japanese yield curve almost across the board, and nongovernment bonds outperformed (where we were overweight 30-year maturities) and exposure to governments globally. Interest-rate movements (and global Brazil treasury returns) were mixed across the globe, with Japanese + Currency allocation: long positions in the Russian ruble, Brazilian government bonds among the best performers in the developed real, Turkish lira, Swedish krona and Mexican peso world as yields declined—particularly long maturities—and Australian bonds among the weakest as yields rose. Detractors – Sector selection: underweight to UK and euro-area investment- >> The US dollar was down compared with all major developed- and emerging-market (EM) currencies in March, particularly the Russian grade corporates ruble, Brazilian real, Colombian peso, South Korean won and South – Country/yield curve: country overweight in Australia, and country African rand, though it weakened only slightly versus the yen. overweight and curve positioning in the UK >> The European Central Bank (ECB) announced additional stimulus – Currency allocation: short position in the Canadian dollar, Taiwan measures in the month, including lowering the bank deposit rate dollar, Singapore dollar and euro from –0.3% to –0.4% and increasing the size of its asset purchase program by €20 billion. The ECB also implemented a new targeted WHAT IS THE MACRO OUTLOOK? longer-term refinancing operation policy in an effort to encourage >> Looking forward, we expect the global economy to continue to banks to increase lending. grow at a moderate pace (+2.6%) in 2016, with the US leading the way among developed nations. EM growth remains challenged, but >> At the midmonth Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the US a continued recovery in commodity prices could ease concerns. Federal Reserve shifted expectations for future rate hikes Inflation should remain benign in most regions. Monetary policy downward, from four to only two more in 2016, allaying some should continue to diverge, with the US Fed on a slow tightening investor concerns regarding the Fed’s pace of tightening. cycle and the ECB and Bank of Japan continuing to ease. >> As market sentiment improved on the back of better US economic >> Against this backdrop, we expect markets to likely remain turbulent data and dovish central bank activity, supply in the investment- in 2016, but in many sectors investors are now being better grade space—led by nonfinancials—amounted to the highest compensated for taking on risk, and the modest market rebound in monthly issuance since May 2015. Weighing somewhat on investor March hasn’t changed that. High-yield credit spreads, for instance, enthusiasm, though, were continued concerns about Great are not as wide as their February peaks, but still much wider than Britain’s potential exit from the European Union. These worries they were 18 months ago. In this environment it’s important to be were compounded as the terrorist attacks in Brussels increased selective, especially since we are in the late stages of the corporate Investors should considerthe investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses ofthe Fund/Portfolio carefully before investing. For copies of ourprospectusorsummaryprospectus,whichcontainthisandotherinformation,visitusonlineatwww.abglobal.comorcontactyourABrepresentative. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before investing. Investment Products Offered • Are Not FDIC Insured • May Lose Value • Are Not Bank Guaranteed AB GLOBAL BOND FUND Class A: ANAGX / Class C: ANACX / Advisor Class: ANAYX MAR 3.31.16 credit cycle. But we still see attractive opportunities where anchored, as weak demand for commodities continues to weigh on valuations are at odds with fundamentals. growth. We remain underweight countries with relatively flat yield curves, such as Japan. While modestly underweight the euro area >> For instance, we expect that sectors tied to the bounce back in US as a whole, we are overweight certain peripheral euro-area consumer spending (such as consumer asset-backed securities) countries—particularly Ireland, Italy and Portugal—where yields are and the rebound in the US real estate market (commercial and more attractive and policy support from the ECB remains solid. residential mortgage-backed securities) should benefit. >> We maintain a limited exposure to EM countries, within which our >> We continue to keep a close watch on global bond market liquidity, largest EM position is in Mexico. We are close to benchmark weight which has worsened in recent years as regulatory pressure has in the US, with most of the exposure in credit sectors. prompted banks to scale back their market-making activities. Diversifying, using cash and liquid derivatives as liquidity buffers, >> Sector: Amid better valuations, we remain overweight and managing turnover to limit transaction costs are all steps that nongovernment bonds, particularly agency credit risk-sharing can be taken to manage liquidity risk—and also to profit from it as mortgage transactions, commercial mortgage-backed securities opportunities arise to become a liquidity provider. and corporate bonds (investment grade and high yield). We continue to underweight governments and agency mortgage- HOW IS THE GLOBAL BOND FUND POSITIONED? backed securities. >> The Global Bond Fund offers a balance between credit risk and interest-rate risk. Within the Fund, our exposure to credit remains >> Active currency: While the Global Bond Fund’s nondollar positions focused in countries where growth is strong—primarily the US. Our are mostly hedged back to US dollars in order to keep volatility in exposure to rates is focused in economies with weaker growth and check, we will take small active currency positions when our central banks that are cutting interest rates, engaging in research teams have high conviction. We continue to maintain quantitative easing, or both. exposure to a basket of EM currencies where valuations have become very cheap and carry is attractive. We also continue to be >> Duration: We have an intermediate-duration profile, with duration long the US dollar against developed-market currencies such as below that of the benchmark. the Australian and Canadian dollars, the euro and the pound. We are also short Asian currencies such as the Taiwan and Singapore >> Country: We are overweight the UK, where yields are attractive dollars. relative to Germany and also provide a hedge to the risk of “Brexit.” We are also overweight Australia, where yields should remain well AB GLOBAL BOND FUND Class A: ANAGX / Class C: ANACX / Advisor Class: ANAYX MAR 3.31.16 PORTFOLIO INFORMATION Portfolio Characteristics Top Five Sectors4 Effective Duration1 5.72 years Global Governments 50.90% Total Number of Holdings 933 Corporates - Investment Grade 19.36 Average Bond Price $108.9 Collateralized Mortgage Obligations 4.54 Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities 4.00 Portfolio Statistics (source: Morningstar) Covered Bonds 2.68 Sharpe Ratio (3 yr)2 0.82 4,5 Standard Deviation (3 yr)3 3.22 Quality Breakdown Highest of S&P/Moody’s/Fitch AAA 38.39% AA 4.48 A 22.29 BBB 23.71 BB 5.16 B 1.73 CCC & Below 0.89 Not Rated 2.80 Short Term Investments 6.35 Country Breakdown4 United States 39.90% Japan 10.47 United Kingdom 10.35 Italy 7.25 Australia 4.83 Canada 3.67 Netherlands 3.54 Germany 3.30 Other 16.69 1 Effective Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of an asset or portfolio’s price to interest rate movements. 2 Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the fund’s return relative to the investment risk it has taken. A higher Sharpe Ratio means the fund’s returns have been better given the level of risk the fund has taken. 3 Standard Deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a portfolio’s return from its mean. The more spread apart the returns, the higher the deviation. 4 Holdings (including derivatives) are expressed as a percentage of net assets and may vary over time. 5 A measure of the quality and safety of a bond or portfolio, based on the issuer’s financial condition, and not based on the financial condition of the fund itself. AAA is highest (best) and D is lowest (worst). Ratings are subject to change. Investment-grade securities are those rated BBB and above. If applicable, the Pre-Refunded