Philippe Gräub
Head of Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income
Investing in global fixed income strategies
A top-down driven and flexible allocation to global fixed income markets with a focus on liquidity to drive value for our clients.
How to invest in global fixed income markets
Our clients include financial institutions, UHNWI, pension funds, insurance companies, corporates in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, and, since 2008, we have been dedicated to actively investing their assets across fixed income in all market conditions and regimes.
Thanks to our clients’ confidence in us, the assets managed by the team have experienced sustained growth, rising from USD 4 billion in 2008 to USD 18 billion at the end of September 2024.
The team's skill set spans four distinct strategies, each designed to meet specific investor needs using a building-block approach:
Money-Market Funds
These strategies provide investors with liquidity and capital preservation, focusing on short-term, high-quality instruments.
Defensive
Designed for investors seeking stability, these strategies invest solely in investment-grade securities with short-to-moderate durations, aiming to generate steady income with low volatility.
Core Allocation
Our flagship offering, these flexible portfolios are designed to navigate shifting market conditions, dynamically allocating across global fixed income sectors to capture opportunities and relative value, and to manage risk.
High Income
Targeting investors seeking higher yields, these strategies invest in global high yield markets and subordinated debt, benefiting from the team's experience in asset classes that generate superior returns over time.
A new regime for bond yields
The upswing in inflation in 2022-2023 propelled bond yields to heights mostly seen in the previous decade. This landscape of elevated yields is noticeable throughout all segments of fixed income assets, which makes a bond allocation well suited within an investment portfolio.
The opportunity set is broad and rich, allowing for the construction of allocations tailored to all investor profiles, from more defensive through to those with greater risk appetite.
Our fundamental approach to global fixed income investing
We employ a top-down asset-allocation approach to invest across global fixed income markets.
The team’s liquidity focus enables efficient implementation of allocation decisions.
Tailor-made, pragmatic risk-modelling tools, such as hands-on stress tests and real-time performance monitoring, are integral to the process.
Our culture and approach foster complementary perspectives, with investment professionals challenging hypotheses from a host of different angles.
Ready to enhance your fixed income allocation?
Talk to our specialists to explore how their strategies can help you reach your investment goals.
Play our latest podcast episode
Take advantage of these 5-minute podcasts with UBP’s experts from the Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income team to learn more about the latest trends within the asset class.
Exploring our flagship strategies
Global flexible bond – Core Allocation
A benchmark-agnostic global aggregate portfolio with the flexibility to adapt to changing macroeconomic and financial conditions.
Multi-sector income – Core Allocation
Fixed income provides a stable revenue stream and capital preservation to complement an equity allocation. Historically, fixed income has experienced generally lower drawdowns and volatility than equities. A global approach expands the opportunity set for yield enhancement and allows investors to benefit from macroeconomic trends across different regions.
Global high yield – High Income
A liquid and diversified high-yield strategy to allocate efficiently to global high yield markets. The strategy is available with both a short- and standard-duration exposure to interest rates.
"Our range of strategies enables clients to allocate to global fixed income markets through all market cycles. Our clients truly appreciate the efficiency and transparency with which we implement our allocation decisions."
Investor Insights
Frequently asked questions about global fixed income
Fixed income provides stable income and capital preservation to complement an equity allocation. Historically, fixed income has experienced generally lower drawdowns and volatility than equities. A global approach expands the opportunity set for yield enhancement and allows investors to benefit from macroeconomic trends across different regions.
The Core Allocation strategies provide investors with a straightforward, diversified way to gain exposure to global fixed income. Portfolios are diversified across regions and sectors, with rigorous and active management of interest rates, credit, and other risks. The strategies are designed to adapt quickly and flexibly to evolving macroeconomic and financial conditions.
Investors can access high yield markets through individual bonds or credit indices. High yield bonds tend to be less liquid, especially in stressed markets, which erode investor returns, and illiquidity has a cost for investors. In contrast, high yield credit indices in the US and Europe are diversified, liquid instruments in all market conditions.
Meet the team
The Global Absolute Return Fixed Income team combines extensive experience with in-depth expertise across fixed income markets. Led by Philippe Gräub, the team includes seasoned experts in their fields who are dedicated to delivering superior risk-adjusted returns to investment portfolios.
Key facts and figures
- Consistent investment process since 2008 under the same lead portfolio manager.
- USD 18 billion in assets under management.
- Twelve seasoned investment professionals.
- Four core strategies: Money Market, Defensive, Core Allocation, and High Income.
Your contact
17.12.2024
Where to invest in Fixed Income
In this podcast, our expert Mohammed Kazmi, Senior Portfolio Manager & Chief Strategist for Fixed Income, shares insights into the anticipated landscape for interest rates and credit markets in 2025.
07.11.2024
Thematic strategies in the face of disruptive events
In 2022, a survey by BNP Paribas AM and Coalition Greenwich showed that 88% of wholesale investors and 36% of institutional investors were keen on thematic strategies.
24.09.2024
High-income segment of fixed income in favour
The positive view towards fixed income is best expressed through the higher-income segments of the market given robust nominal GDP growth and elevated all-in yields that are still in excess of the historical returns of global equities.
19.09.2024
Exploring emerging market fixed income opportunities
Despite recent volatility, emerging markets (EMs) continue to hold significant potential for investors. The current global trends and market conditions present several tailwinds that can drive growth and create opportunities in EM fixed income investments. Here, we explore these tailwinds and discuss the investment implications for the second half of 2024.
04.04.2024
Fixed income: Positive bias towards credit
We believe that we are at a shift in regime for fixed-income markets as central banks prepare the ground for potential rate cuts following the most aggressive tightening cycle since the 1970s.
20.06.2023
Union Bancaire Privée adds high-income strategy to its fixed income offering
Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP) announced today that it has further expanded its fixed income offering with the launch, in December 2022, of a new high-income strategy.
07.09.2021
Positive on corporate debt
This year, we have held – and continue to hold – a positive bias on credit markets. This has been driven by our macro scenario of a robust and sustained global growth recovery as economies normalise following the vaccine rollout, coupled with the significant policy support coming from both monetary and fiscal authorities which should allow global growth to exceed its pre-Covid trend.
26.05.2020
Asset TV: Cautious optimism in fixed income
Mohammed Kazmi, Portfolio Manager & Macro-Strategist Global and Absolute Return Fixed Income at UBP, recently participated in an Asset TV Masterclass discussing which areas of the bond market offer opportunities to investors.