Commentaries

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund returned -0.5%[1] in March. Although the period was a strong one for the high-grade part of the portfolio, a few idiosyncratic events in particular lines and widening spreads in lower-tier credit holdings led to a net negative result for the month. Highlights Most of the Fund’s investment grade holdings were […]

Highlights The Fund added back a position in Valvoline Inc. 4.25% 2030 (NYSE:VVV) that we had sold out of in February. This bond is expected to be called in Q1 2024 with the proceeds from the already-completed asset sale to Saudi (Aramco).  We exited our position in Rogers Communications Inc. special mandatory redemption bonds, as […]

Highlights 2023 is seeing deals materialize from a more diverse range of sectors. We expect technology sector M&A to continue representing a leading share of deal flow over the next year. The relative slowdown in M&A activity this year is a likely consequence of the current macro environment, marked by higher inflation, interest rates and […]

Highlights The Fund’s positioning was very defensive to start the month and finished with more market exposure compared to the end of January. However, we remain positioned defensively as spreads are tighter than the historic average, with near-term risks for asset prices skewed to the downside in our view. We added to holdings that are […]

Highlights The Pender Corporate Bond Fund had a relatively strong performance amidst a market that saw larger price declines in both high yield and investment grade bond benchmarks. We added a position in the 2028 unsecured bonds of Brazilian payments processing specialist, StoneCo Ltd. An equity portfolio holding of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company’s bonds […]

Highlights Pender Value Fund returned 9.7%[1] in January, following a 4.7% gain in the fourth quarter. Technology holdings now represent the largest sector weight in the portfolio at 37.6% at the end of January, up from 29.3% at the end of June 2022. We see many high-quality tech companies trading at a discount of greater […]

Highlights After a busy December where we had positioned the Fund to take advantage of the wave of year-end SPAC liquidations, January was an active month as we redeployed proceeds from those liquidations into new deals. The Fund initiated positions in 12 new or previously announced merger deals, with eight merger deals held within the […]

Highlights January 2023 was the strongest start to the year for credit since 2019 and the second strongest year since 2009. We added or established positions on bonds issued by SECURE Energy Services Inc. (TSX: SES), Superior Plus LP (TSX: SPB) and Keyera Corp. (TSX: KEY). In the new issues market, we participated in bonds […]

Highlights Most of the holdings of the Pender Corporate Bond Fund rose as lower benchmark yields coincided with narrowing spreads for corporate bonds. Significant performers included positions in discounted convertible bonds as holdings in Eventbrite Inc., Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. and Esperion Therapeutics Inc. each gained in excess of 10%. New positions included recycling an […]