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, credit quality breakdown and finally, individual issue selection. The manager seeks to add value in a number of ways. First, interest rate strategies are employed to take advantage of the changing shape of the mortgage yield curve and overall level of volatility in the marketplace. Next, many areas of the mortgage market are exploited to add diversification and spread risk. Lastly, PIMCO's advanced proprietary analytics are critical to uncovering undervalued securities and managing portfolio risk under a variety of interest rate and prepayment scenarios.
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