+1,38%
Description
The fund invests in a portfolio of short-term bonds with an average remaining maturity of less than one year. The aim is to achieve an attractive and stable excess return compared to the money market benchmark ESTR.
The portfolio is implemented through actively managed ETFs, ensuring high diversification, liquidity, and daily tradability. Security selection is based on a rules-based process that considers both creditworthiness and maturity structure.
A particular focus is on high transparency, cost efficiency and the active management of interest rate risks.
Fund Manager
Wilhelm Wildschütz is the founder and managing director of Active Core Asset Management GmbH. He has extensive experience in institutional asset management with a focus on bond strategies.
Before founding Active Core, he worked as a portfolio manager at a renowned private bank, where he was particularly responsible for liquid interest rate strategies and the implementation of regulatory-optimized mandates.
His investment approach is characterized by transparency, efficiency and a deep understanding of market-rate asset classes.
Fund data
Fondsmanager | Wilhelm Wildschütz |
|---|---|
Sales countries | GE, AT, IE |
Jurisdiction | UCITS / ICAV |
ESG Status | Article 8 SFDR with sustainability promise |
WKN | A401A8 |
ISIN | IE000AKHLQ11 |
Bloomberg Ticker | E1AC ID |
Fund initiation | 08.04.2024 |
Date of initial price calculation | 10.05.2024 |
Initial offering price | 100,03 EUR |
Year end | 31. Dec. |
Distribution policy | accumulating |
Minimum investment | none |
Fondswährung | EUR |
price calculation | daily |
Custodian | J.P. Morgan SE Dublin Branch |
Custodian | HAL Fund Services Ireland Limited |
TER (capped) | 0,12% p.a. |
Fund AUM | 189.963.103 EUR |
Monthly market commentary
Fund Performance:
With a return of 1.88% (ED share class, ISIN IE000AKHLQ11) over the past 12 months, the performance of our “eNova Active Core EUR Ultra Short Term” (eNOVA Active Core), net of fees, exceeded that of our reference index (iBoxx EUR Germany 0–1 Total Return Index) by 12 basis points.
As the eNOVA Active Core is also positioned as an alternative for short-term liquidity investments, portfolio management aims to strike a balance between performance, minimal and short drawdowns, and low volatility.
Over the past 12 months, the Fund recorded price declines on only 24 trading days, compared with 31 days for the reference index. Over the same period, the eNOVA Active Core showed an average 30-day volatility of 0.11%. The reference index, despite its lower performance, recorded a volatility of 0.19%.
The Market Environment:
The turbulence in global bond markets continued in August. The upward trend in energy prices remains one of the main drivers of higher yields. However, there are now also initial signs that food and goods prices are beginning to follow this trend.
Persistent inflation has recently been putting particular upward pressure on long-term bond yields, resulting in a bearish steepening of the yield curve in August.
The market continues to price in two rate hikes by February 2027, with the first hike already expected for the coming Thursday, September 10. Current inflation dynamics suggest that, even under the ECB’s baseline projections, the 2% inflation target may not be reached again until autumn 2027. Against this backdrop, current market expectations for interest rates could therefore prove to be too low.
Against the backdrop of growing concerns about long-term yields, the U.S. Treasury has become increasingly creative. As a measure to support the long end of the U.S. yield curve, the Treasury announced that it intends to increase bond buybacks and thereby shorten the duration of U.S. government debt.
While this could reduce pressure at the long end of the curve, it would at the same time increase the interest-rate and refinancing risk of the United States. Particularly in light of the large fiscal deficit, this strategy appears unlikely to significantly reduce investors’ concerns.
The Portfolio:
At month-end, the portfolio offered an attractive carry, with an average yield of 2.51% and an average credit quality of AAA.
Against the backdrop of rising money market yields, we slightly reduced the portfolio’s weighted duration during the month to 0.30 years. The portfolio’s average ESTR spread of +6 basis points, combined with the highest quality of holdings, continues to underline its attractiveness in our view, particularly against the backdrop of still-low risk premia and persistently high geopolitical uncertainty.
In addition to France, we have now also removed Belgium from the portfolio until further notice. Although the Belgian Debt Agency confirmed during our most recent meeting that it is doing everything possible to defend the country’s AA rating, the current rating dynamics suggest otherwise.
Furthermore, we currently see no clear factor that could lead to a sustainable reversal of this trend. Therefore, until further notice, we will not add any new Belgian money market instruments to the portfolio.