How do fund managers manage debt funds

Debt funds, also known as income funds or fixed income funds invest in a mix of government securities, certificates of deposits of banks, corporate debentures, and some other debt and money market securities. These investments are safer than equity securities in that these do not exhibit the price fluctuations as much as stock markets.

While we have talked about various categories of debt funds, some features of these as well as the risks involved. Today, we will discuss how these funds are managed by the fund managers.

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The English translation of the article is as under:

How do fund managers manage debt funds?

Debt funds, also known as income funds or fixed income funds invest in a mix of government securities, certificates of deposits of banks, corporate debentures, and some other debt and money market securities. These investments are safer than equity securities in that these do not exhibit the price fluctuations as much as stock markets.

While we have talked about various categories of debt funds, some features of these as well as the risks involved. Today, we will discuss how these funds are managed by the fund managers.

The function of fund management team is to generate higher returns for the risk taken or to reduce risk for a given level of risk. In other words, they have to reward the investors for the risks taken. The reward should be higher than what an investor would be able to achieve by oneself.

For that purpose, the fund managers need to manage the risks. Or in other words, they need to take calculated risks. In debt funds, there are three major risks that the fund managers manage in order to generate desired fund performance in line with the scheme objective.

These three risks are:

1.     Credit risk:

When you lend money to someone, there is a contract that the principal amount as well as the interest on it would be returned at a pre-agreed time. However, in certain cases, the borrower is not able to honour this commitment. The possibility of such an event is known as credit risk. In other words, the risk can be mentioned as: “what if the principal or interest payments are not received in time or not received at all?”

The companies where such a risk is high, is expected to pay higher interest, else nobody would lend money to them.

The fund managers understand this risk through a careful study of the financial statements and business of the company, as well as an analysis of overall economic situation. With this analysis, they try to find out securities where the future returns could be higher for the suggested risk.

2.     Interest rate risk:

When interest rates in the economy fall, the existing debentures become more attractive, as they carry higher interest rates. Due to this, investors queue up to buy these debentures from the secondary market, which pushes their market prices up. Thus, as interest rates in the economy went down, the prices of existing debentures went up. The opposite of this is also true.

This sensitivity of debentures to changes in interest rates is called “interest rate risk”. Securities with short maturity period are less sensitive as compared to those with longer maturities.

Fund managers may take a view on the possible change in interest rates in the economy and shift the portfolio accordingly. When the rates are expected to rise, the fund managers sell securities with long maturity and buy those with short maturity. When the rates are expected to fall, they do exactly reverse. In this way, they try to reduce the negative impact of rising rates and maximize the impact of falling rates.

3.     Liquidity risk:

When any investor wants to sell a security, there should be a buyer in the secondary market. In the absence of a buyer, there is no liquidity, or one would be required to sell the same security at a discount. At the same time, if a security is known to be illiquid or less liquid, the interest rate is normally high to compensate for this lack of liquidity.

Most mutual fund managers buy illiquid securities only (1) if the scheme’s objective allows it, or (2) the expected redemptions are less than the liquid component of the portfolio. By maintaining proper balance between liquid and illiquid securities, the fund managers are able to get higher interest income as well as provide redemptions without hassles to investors.

So, go ahead and enjoy the fruits of professional management by investing through debt funds.

- Amit Trivedi