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A bond fund with a new investment approach that sets itself apart
Date:
16. September 2025
Analect Bond Fund UI (UCITS) was launched in 2019 and achieved a Sharpe ratio of above 4 and a yearly return after cost of over 7 percent. It has produced continuous positive returns that are uncorrelated with market movements.
Robert Shi: Over the past 29 years, I have traded and managed trading desks for global banks in a wide range of fixed income sectors including government, corporate, financial, high yield and structured credit bonds. A combination of quantitative background and practical market trading experience uniquely enables me to develop various strategies in many fixed income markets. When I moved from sell side to fund management business, I wanted to have a product that can achieve stable above market return, minimum draw-down and low correlation to market risk. I combined a value-based bond holding and an event-driven active trading approach in this fund. Applying a multi layered investment vetting process, with emphasis on exit points of each investment, we kept the duration and spread risks substantially lower compared to traditional buy and hold bond funds or passive bond ETFs. This barbell investment approach makes it possible to achieve positive returns even in negative market environments such as the Covid crash in 2020 or in 2022 where rising inflation caused yields to rapidly rise, but also in up-trending markets.
For which investor groups can the Analect Bond Fund UI add value?
Robert Shi: The funds´s objective a steady performance around 2 to 2.5 percent above the money market rate. The Analect Bond Fund UI aims for an absolute performance regardless of the market environment (ISINs share class I USD DE000A2PB7D2 / share class IH EUR DE000A2PB7E0). Given the ongoing uncertainty from geopolitical conflicts, US tariff impacts, and already stretched valuation, expected returns from traditional investment strategy is unlikely to continue from previous years’ momentum. The fund would be benefitting investors looking to enhance their performance by simultaneously lowering the volatility and drawdowns. The targeted attractive risk-/return profile would be ideal for Stiftungen (trusts), Family Offices and Private Banking clients as well as fund of funds or pension funds.
How can Stable Return add value to Investors of Analect Bond Fund UI?
Alexander Odermann: The Investment team at Linear had been solely focused on successfully managing the fund and achieving annual returns above 7 percent and a Sharpe ratio of over 4 since the launch of the fund without paying much attention to market the fund. Stable Return has deep experience to market a variety of funds to European clients. Investors can benefit from our local knowledge to better understand Portfolio Management team/process in order to invest in Analect Bond Fund UI. Since Stable Return started to introduce the Analect Bond Fund UI to the broader investment community from beginning of 2025, we have seen AUM grew over 30%, with growth rate picking up since the Euro tranche becoming hedged.
How could investors invest into your fund?
Robert Shi: We have two UCITS Fund Tranches with daily liquidity, available in USD and in EUR. The USD-Tranche was launched on the 26th of September 2019. The EUR-Tranche was initially launched on 15th of August 2023 as an unhedged tranche. Thus, it was subject to the daily USD/EUR exchange ratio changes affecting the fund price. In June 2025, the Euro tranche was converted into a hedged EUR-Tranche.
A summary of your investor rights can be found at www.universal-investment.com/en/Corporate/Compliance/Investor-Rights. In addition, we would like to point out that Universal Investment may, in the case of funds for which it has made arrangements as management company for the distribution of fund units in other EU member states, decide to cancel these arrangements in accordance with Article 93a of Directive 2009/65/EC and Article 32a of Directive 2011/61/EU, i.e. in particular by making a blanket offer to repurchase or redeem all corresponding units held by investors in the relevant member state.
