Bowie ups his defensive stance

Chris Bowie has moved a third of the £290m Ignis Corporate Bond into defensive fixed income instruments on renewed concerns for the domestic and global economy.

Bowie moved towards neutral on credit across all Ignis’s bond portfolios for the first time in a year in Q1 – cutting a number of strongly performing higher-beta holdings to shift into gilts, utilities and other senior paper. The manager had no exposure to gilts at the turn of the year, but has moved over 8% of the fund into government debt. While Bowie says the possibility of a hung Parliament would hit the gilt market, he believes it would have a greater negative impact on credit. “If polling for the upcoming election proves to be accurate, the Conservatives will fail to secure a...