High Yield Bond Strategy

As of 12/31/23

Assets Under Management

  • $130.1 million

Objectives

  • Seeks to maximize total return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation with a disciplined, research-intensive investment process.

Available Vechicles

  • Separately Managed Account
  • Private Fund

Portfolio Management Team

Mark Heppenstall Photo

Mark Heppenstall
President & Chief Investment Officer

Scott Ellis Photo

Scott Ellis
Portfolio Manager

Greg Zappin Photo

Greg Zappin
Managing Director & Portfolio Manager

View Full Team

Characteristics

  • A relative value approach to below investment-grade corporate obligations and structured securities
  • A high conviction and diversified portfolio with a strong emphasis on risk management and downside mitigation
  • Number of Positions: Typically 125-175
  • Position Size: Typically 50-300 basis points
  • Corporate Issuer Limit: 5%
129 Number of Holdings
2.9 yrs Duration
6.9% Yield to Maturity

Unless otherwise indicated, all data is reported as of December 31, 2023 and is not a representation of current or future data. Holdings and allocations are subject to change. Data is based on a representative portfolio, which is an account in the composite that PMAM believes most closely reflects portfolio management style for this strategy. 

Key Asset Classes

High Yield Corporate 70-100%
Bank Loans 0-10%
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) 0-10%
Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) 0-10%
Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLO) 0-10%
Preferred Stocks 0-10%

Percentages are subject to change based on market conditions.

Asset Class Allocation

High Yield Corporate 81.6%
Bank Loans 6.5%
Investment-Grade Corporate 8.7%
Treasury 1.5%
CLO 1.2%
ABS 0.5%
  • 81.6%
    High Yield Corporate
  • 6.5%
    Bank Loans
  • 8.7%
    Investment-Grade Corporate
  • 1.5%
    Treasury
  • 1.2%
    CLO
  • 0.5%
    ABS

Unless otherwise indicated, all data is reported as of December 31, 2023 and is not a representation of current or future data. Holdings and allocations are subject to change. The chart does not include cash and derivatives. Data is based on a representative portfolio, which is an account in the composite that PMAM believes most closely reflects portfolio management style for this strategy. 

Bond Quality Allocation

Unless otherwise indicated, all data is reported as of December 31, 2023 and is not a representation of current or future data. Holdings and allocations are subject to change. Data is based on a representative portfolio, which is an account in the composite that PMAM believes most closely reflects portfolio management style for this strategy. 

Source: Independent Rating Agencies such as Moody’s, S&P, Fitch, etc.

Note: When a security is rated differently by three rating agencies, the median rating is used; when rated differently by two rating agencies, the lower rating is used.

 

 

Composite Performance

3 Months YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years Annualized Since Inception1
High Yield Bond Strategy - Gross 5.79% 11.70% 11.70% 3.77% 7.04% 5.76%
High Yield Bond Strategy - Net 5.60% 10.93% 10.93% 3.09% 6.33% 5.03%
Bloomberg U.S. High Yield BA/B 2% Issuer Capped 7.19% 12.56% 12.56% 1.75% 5.48% 4.25%

Unless otherwise indicated, all data is reported as of December 31, 2023 and is not a representation of current or future data. Holdings and allocations are subject to change. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. 

1Inception date 7/1/2017.

High Yield Bond Composite vs. Bloomberg U.S. High Yield Ba/B 2% Issuer Capped

Year Composite Return Composite Return Benchmark Return Composite 3 Year Standard Deviation Benchmark 3 Year Standard Deviation Dispersion of Portfolio Returns Number of Portfolios Assets in this Composite Total Firm Assets
(Gross %) (Net %) (%) (Net %) (%) (Net %) ($ MM) ($ MM)
2023 11.70% 10.93% 12.56% 6.68% 8.33% N/A Less than 5 130 33,656
2022 -5.77% -6.37% -10.57% 8.89% 10.79% N/A Less than 5 210 30,328
2021 6.16% 5.48% 4.65% 7.31% 8.59% N/A Less than 5 242 34,720
2020 8.02% 7.31% 7.67% 7.57% 8.78% N/A Less than 5 235 31,456
2019 16.43% 15.61% 15.18% N/A N/A N/A less than 5 224 28,519
2018 -1.04% -1.73% -1.88% N/A N/A N/A less than 5 209 24,811
2017* 3.44% 3.04% 2.30% N/A N/A N/A less than 5 57 24,649
Composite Disclosure

*Cumulative return for the period is from July 1, 2017 (Inception of strategy) to December 31, 2017.

Definition of Firm: Penn Mutual Asset Management, LLC  (“PMAM” or "The Firm") is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Important Performance Disclosure: PMAM claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has prepared and presented this report in compliance with the GIPS standards. PMAM has been independently verified for the periods January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2022. A copy of the verification report is available upon request. A firm that claims compliance with the GIPS standards must establish policies and procedures for complying with all the applicable requirements of the GIPS standards.  Verification provides assurance on whether the firm's policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis.  Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. Registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. GIPS® is a registered trademark of CFA Institute.  CFA Institute does not endorse or promote this organization, nor does it warrant the accuracy or quality of the content contained herein.

Methodology: Total returns are presented in U.S. dollars both gross and net of investment advisory fees, are inclusive of commissions and transaction costs, and assume reinvestment of any dividends, interest income, capital gains, or other earnings. Periods greater than one year are shown as average annual total returns. Gross composite returns do not reflect the reduction of investment advisory, administrative or custodial fees but do include trading expenses. Net composite returns are reduced by the actual investment management fee and incentive fee and any administrative, custodial, or other fees and expenses incurred. When calculating the actual investment management fee for a private fund, the calculation may include a share class with no management fee or a fee may be waived; thus, the actual investment management fee calculated may be lower or higher depending on the size of the no-fee share class or waived fee amount. “Dispersion of Portfolio Returns” presented for each annual period is calculated using the asset-weighted standard deviation of the annual returns of all portfolios that were included in the composite for the entire year. If during a particular year the composite does not contain more than 5 accounts for the entire year, then "N/A" will be displayed. "Composite 3-Yr St Dev" and "Benchmark 3-Yr St Dev" are rolling 3-year standard deviation calculations, which measure the variability of the monthly performance returns for the composite and benchmark index return over the preceding 36-month period on an annualized basis. If the composite has not been in existence for at least 3 years as of a particular year-end, then “N/A” will be displayed. Performance data is shown rounded to the nearest hundredth.

A list of composite descriptions, a list of limited distribution pooled fund descriptions, and a list of broad distribution pooled funds are available upon request. Policies for valuing investments, calculating performance, and preparing GIPS Reports are available upon request. Past performance is not indicative of future results and no investment is guaranteed for return of principal and/or return on investments.  All information provided and used in calculations is believed to be correct, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. 

Composite Description: The High Yield Bond Composite (previously known as Credit Opportunities Bond Composite, changed on 7/1/2018) seeks to realize high current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of corporate bonds, income-producing convertible securities and preferred stocks that are rated below investment-grade or not rated by any major credit rating agency but deemed to be below investment-grade by the Adviser. High yield bonds are rated below investment-grade (BB and lower, or an equivalent rating), and tend to provide high income in an effort to compensate investors for their higher risk of default, which is the failure to make required interest or principal payments. The strategy may invest in corporate and structured securities, syndicated bank loans, closed-end funds, exchange traded funds, common stock, preferred stock, convertible bonds and foreign debt securities including emerging market debt and derivatives. The strategy may also invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies issued by both domestic and foreign issuers. The strategy may invest in derivatives, which are instruments that have a value derived from, or directly linked to, an underlying asset, such as equity securities, fixed income securities, commodities, currencies, interest rates or market indices. The strategy may implement short positions through derivatives such as options, futures or swaps.

Benchmark Description: The benchmark for this composite is the Bloomberg U.S. High Yield BA/B 2% Issuer Capped. The Bloomberg U.S. High Yield BA/B 2% Issuer Capped Index covers the universe of fixed rate, dollar-denominated, non-investment grade debt, including both corporate (Industrial, Utility, and Finance) and non-corporate (Sovereign, Supranational, Foreign Agency, and Foreign Local Government) sectors, and limits any individual issuer to a maximum of 2% benchmark exposure. Further information is available upon request. Benchmark return information is provided for comparative and referential purposes only. Benchmark information is provided by third party sources, and is considered to be accurate.

Inception and Composite Creation Date: The inception date is July 1, 2017 and the composite creation date is January 1, 2018.

Fee Schedule: The investment advisory fee applicable to a portfolio depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to portfolio size, the level of committed assets, service levels, the use of a performance fee or minimum fee arrangement, and other factors. The current maximum scheduled investment advisory fee for this strategy is 46 basis points.

 

Disclosure Statement

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should be aware of the additional risks associated with investments in non-diversification, undervalued or overlooked companies and investments in specific industries. In addition, investors should be aware of the additional risks associated with investments in non-investment grade (high yield) debt securities and structured securities, which are subject to greater fluctuations in value and risk of loss of income and principal as a result of interest rate risk and economic risk. Additional risks may include those associated with investing in foreign securities, emerging markets, currencies and derivatives.

Risks associated with derivatives include the risks of the underlying instruments, substantially greater gains and losses than the derivatives’ costs due to the leverage. Short sales are speculative transactions with potentially unlimited losses, and the use of leverage can magnify the effect of losses. Diversification neither assures a profit nor eliminates the risk of loss.

The information herein does not constitute investment advice and the strategy described may not be available to, or suitable for, all investors.

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