The top-down investment process begins with PIMCO's annual secular forum at which the firm develops a 3- to 5-year outlook for the global economy and interest rates. This helps set the basic portfolio parameters, including duration, yield-curve positioning, sector weightings and credit quality. Our municipal bond team seeks to add value in a number of ways. They believe that investments should be made from the point of view of maximizing total return as opposed to simply reaching for maximum yield. So the portfolio is scrutinized using a process that models the potential changes in yield and price as the underlying variables of the marketplace change. Yield-to-worst measures are carefully examined, as are the impact of a shifting municipal yield curve and the influence of yield volatility and credit shifts on the portfolio.
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