Fixed Income

We believe the quality and stability of our fixed income team stands out as does the discipline with which we have applied our investment philosophy since the firm’s founding in 1990. Fort Washington has worked diligently to build a tenured and cohesive team of investment professionals who have an average of over 20 years of experience to manage your institutional and individual investment needs. Our fixed income philosophy is applied via a rigorous, fundamentally based research process by a deeply experienced team whose creativity and collaboration facilitate competitive, repeatable results.

Active Corporate Fixed Income

Seeks to outperform the Bloomberg US Credit Index through a relative value orientation, which considers fundamental credit analysis, including sector, quality, and yield curve placement

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Core Fixed Income

Seeks to outperform the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index over a full market cycle by covering the global fixed income universe while tactically adjusting risk exposure within a relative value framework

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Core Plus Fixed Income

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Emerging Markets Debt

Seeks to outperform the JP Morgan EMBI Global Diversified benchmark by actively managing a diversified portfolio of hard currency emerging market sovereign credit and opportunistically investing in emerging market corporate and local currency debt

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High Yield Fixed Income

Seeks to outperform over a full market cycle by protecting principal in periods of market decline while providing a stable base of income across all periods

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Intermediate Fixed Income

Seeks to outperform the Bloomberg US Aggregate Intermediate Index over a full market cycle by covering the global fixed income universe while tactically adjusting risk exposure within a relative value framework

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Securitized Opportunities

Emphasizes moderate to higher risk opportunities within securitized products; management employs a fundamental, relative-value approach that seeks alpha by strategically allocating between two sources: sector allocation and security selection

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Securitized Total Return

Emphasizes moderate risk opportunities in non-index sectors; management employs a fundamental, relative-value approach that seeks alpha by strategically allocating between two sources: sector allocation and security selection

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Short Duration Fixed Income

Seeks to outperform the Bloomberg 1-3 Year US Gov/Credit Index over a full market cycle by covering the global fixed income universe while tactically adjusting risk exposure within a relative value framework.

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Strategic Income

Seeks a high level of current income with a focus on capital preservation by investing primarily in income producing fixed income securities

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Ultra Short Duration

Seeks maximum total return consistent with the preservation of capital; interest rate risk is managed by maintaining an effective duration of one year or less under normal market conditions

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Related Insights

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Managing Risk the Fort Washington Way
A comprehensive risk management framework is at the heart of our investment philosophy. This article explores the principles and the values that drive Fort Washington’s belief that the measurement of risk and return, not forecasting, should drive investment decisions.

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Risk Budgeting Applied to Fixed Income
At the core of Fort Washington's risk management framework is the use of a risk budget. Our risk budgeting process is made more efficient and consistent through our measure of credit risk, Index Equivalent Spread Duration.

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Enhancing Risk Management With IESD
The significance of risk management at Fort Washington drove the development of our proprietary credit risk metric, Index Equivalent Spread Duration (IESD). This piece explores how Fort Washington integrates IESD into its risk management framework to enhance portfolio performance and mitigate credit risk effectively.

An Innovative Approach to Measuring Spread Risk
Index Equivalent Spread Duration adjusts for two effects not addressed by spread duration—the tendency of riskier bonds to experience larger spread moves and the tendency of short maturity bonds to demonstrate more spread volatility than long maturity bonds. This piece explores how Fort Washington captures these effects by applying a spread and maturity beta to a bond’s spread duration.

Liquidity & Yield: How Cash Segmentation Can Optimize Cash Holdings
A cash segmentation strategy, implemented through collaboration with an experienced asset manager, provides a structured approach to managing cash reserves. This article explores how institutions can benefit from such a strategy, the steps involved in the process, & the role of experienced asset managers such as Fort Washington Investment Advisors.

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As organizations grow and needs become more complex, cash and liquidity management are often overlooked. Partnering with an experienced active asset manager can help organizations navigate market alternatives & optimize cash holdings.