Insights and market news

Against a background of rising volatility in global markets, global convertibles performed decently in 2018. However, we must acknowledge that the performance of the M&G (Lux) Global Convertibles Fund has been disappointing as the portfolio has battled against a series of headwinds. In this note we discuss some of the challenges faced and the action we are taking to address them.

Volatility proved to be the predominant theme in 2018, and many financial assets lost ground.

In a year characterised by increased volatility and changes in market leadership, financial markets struggled to generate positive returns.

In this short video Richard Woolnough, Fund Manager for the M&G Optimal Income Fund, will discuss how the market performed in the second half of 2018, as well as his outlook going into the new year and the importance of diversification within his portfolio.

Please note, the value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause fund prices to fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the original amount invested.

M&G’s Multi Asset team looks back at a volatile year in financial markets and assesses the investment environment heading into 2019.

The M&G (Lux) Global Listed Infrastructure Fund has a total return (the combination of income and growth of capital) objective and aims to outperform the global equities market (as represented by the MSCI ACWI Index), net of the Ongoing Charges Figure, over any five-year period. It also aims to provide a rising income stream in US dollars by investing in infrastructure stocks which tend to exhibit characteristics of higher yield and lower volatility compared to global equities.