Smith backs gilts over bunds in BarCap RADAR

Barclays Capital's Jason Smith is backing UK and Chinese government bonds over German bunds in his Research Analysis Driven Absolute Return (RADAR) fund.

Jason Smith, the manager of the £24m fund, bought into Chinese bonds following the sell-off of the renminbi in September, seeing the fall as a good entry point into the asset class. He also bought into 10-year UK gilts versus the equivalent German bund on hopes the 60 basis point spread was set to tighten. The manager has taken an overweight position the US industrial sector versus the broad S&P 500 index, and small long positions in the German Dax and S&P 500. To protect the portfolio from a major fall in equity prices, Smith put an option spread on the S&P 500 index. In Octob...