Aegon Strategic Bond cashes in on Swedish government debt

Strong outperformance due to limited demand leads Finlayson to cash in holdings

Aegon’s £270m Strategic Bond fund has taken profits on its entire 6% holding in Swedish government bonds following the country’s fall back into recession. Fixed income investment manager Colin Finlayson says the team sold the fund’s holding last week as the demand for limited supply resulted in an outperformance “too good to ignore”. Sweden’s fourth quarter GDP contracted 0.6%, after a revised decline of 0.1% in the third quarter. This figure was much weaker than anticipated, says Finlayson, given the recent strength of survey indicators and its labour market. He says the news caus...