A Framework for Understanding Bond Portfolio Performance

Alpha and beta are important tools for many investors when it comes to figuring out if their investments are doing well. Investors can use both alpha and beta to judge a manager's or individual stock's performance (Seigle, 2013). Investors would most likely prefer a high alpha and a low beta. On the other hand, investors might like the higher beta, trying to cash in on the stock or fund's volatility in price and shares sold (Seigle, 2013). However, if a fund manager or stock has had a high alpha, but also a high beta, conservative investors might not be so happy. That's because the beta might make them withdraw their money when the investment is doing poorly due to the increased volatility and possible risk of losses indicated by the high beta. Beta is the general term for the sensitivity of a security or portfolio’s value to the change in some variable.?

In its most common use, beta is the sensitivity of an equity portfolio’s value to changes in the value of the overall equity market. Alpha and beta cannot be separated for a bond portfolio as simply as I did for an equity portfolio. We must first consider the question of what we mean by alpha and beta in a bond context. The duration of a bond is the present-value weighted average number of years it takes the bondholder to get his or her money back. In the end, investors need to put their money to work in a way that fits their age, skill set, income, and risk tolerance. It can take some time, but finding what works for you is the best way to become a successful investor.

The duration may reflect the manager’s desire to appeal to a certain clientele, or it may reflect the manager’s desire to beat the market benchmark by adopting a duration that is shorter or longer than that of the benchmark (Seigle, 2013). For example, the manager holds the same 4- year duration, because she is trying to beat the AGG and is currently bearish, but she intends to shift to a longer-than-benchmark duration when she turns bullish, and the fund is designed to appeal to investors who desire a benchmark-like duration on average over time. From an analysis of the manager’s past selection return we expect her to add 1% per year through bond selection over the next two and a half years. We question ourselves if is a good idea to hire this manager but this manager is worthless in these circumstances. In case the interest rate would increase just a little bit this manager will be able to perform the job really well.?

In addition, there are other managers, with other mixes of timing skill and selection skill. The timing and selection returns from each must be counterbalanced against the others. There is a broad consensus that interest rates are rising but it is not clear when, how far or for how long. One scenario is that we are headed for 1970s-style inflation, with bond yields commensurate with high inflation rates (Seigle, 2013). There is also a concern that quantitative easing has involved, or will involve, a kind of money printing or debt monetization even though traditional monetization has not taken place. If inflation runs at a fraction of 1970s rates (6%) and bond yields rise to 7% or 8% the bond market would be spectacular.

Also if the rate late of 10 years looks like it will be 4% to 5% if productivity growth returns to its long-term trend rate of 2% and the working population grows around 0.50%. Once rates normalize to this level, expected returns for a constant-duration portfolio over a holding period of six or more years should be 4% to 5% (Seigle, 2013).

Return of 4% to 5% with little risk, in a nominal GDP and profits growth world of 4% to 5%, is pretty good (Seigle, 2013). At the current 10-year yield of 2.75%, given the long duration because of the low coupon, there is still risk of principal loss (Seigle, 2013). However, once that happens and rates normalize, bonds could rapidly become a competitive investment, and provided that current Fed policies work; We get back to trend growth, and inflation stays contained. If for some other reasons the bond market crashes as it did in the 1970s, the investors should avoid the duration at all and for a very long time (Seigle, 2013). Investment success generally hinges on long-term thinking; however, most investors can’t help but worry about dayto-day shifts with their portfolios. Some of that worry is certainly justifiable given the recent increases in volatility over the last few years.

Truth be told, both bull and bear markets are completely dissimilar animals and behave quite differently. Bull markets are generally defined as periods when investors are showing immense confidence. While, technically, a bull market is a rise in value of the market of at least 20% - such as the huge rise of the Nasdaq during the tech boom - most investors apply a much looser meaning to the term. On the flipside, bear markets are simply the opposite of a bull: a market showing a lack of conviction. Stock prices drift sideways or fall, indices fall and trading volumes are stagnant. At the same time, brokerage cash and bond balances generally are higher. Headlines in local newspaper's business section turn pessimistic, and all in all, investors feel less confident about the near future.

While a few up or down days don't make a bull or bear market, two weeks or so of stock surges or declines could signal what kind of market we’ve now entered. If we take a look of the popular analyst of David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff Research in Toronto, we note that the starting price/earnings ratio is a good predictor of subsequent returns in the stock market, he applied a similar method to predicting bond returns.?

The analysis state that, in rough terms, you get at least the starting yield back as a threeyear rate of return, almost no matter what the starting yield is (Seigle, 2013). Returns in excess of the starting yield are slightly negative in the 4% to 5% range and in the 7% to 8% range (Seigle, 2013). At the highest starting yields, there are big gains in excess of the yield. If the future will be a mix of bull and bear markets, then bonds are not a fair or better-than-fair deal until yields reach 5% or more. That is the level at which we’d start to move our duration back toward that of the market. They also cost investors in nominal assets, such as conventional bonds, a massive portion of their wealth a cost multiplied by the effects of taxation. Even if normalization were the more likely scenario, investors would do well to hedge against the pernicious risk of high inflation to some degree. The specific allocations would depend on the investor’s market views, the other assets is in the portfolio and the investor’s risk capacity.

Cash provides the direct hedge against rising rates. Intermediate Treasuries represent a compromise between the desire for yield and the avoidance of duration. Intermediate TIPS do the same thing but with the TIPS inflation adjustment or protection. Non-U.S. assets hedge against a decline in the dollar, which would occur if the U.S. experiences more inflation than other countries. Credit, high-yield and preferred-stock strategies capture a credit-risk premium that should be uncorrelated with inflation and should soften the blow from rising Treasury yields.?

Seigle, L. B. (2013, Dec.). A Framework for Understanding Bond Portfolio Performance. Retreived from https://www.advisorperspectives.com/newsletters13/A_Framework_for_Understanding_B ond_Portfolio_Performance.ph