The Institutional Standard
Fixed Income
Fixed income is a core asset class in asset management that encompasses investments providing regular, predictable income payments, typically in the form of interest. These instruments include government bonds, corporate bonds, securitised products (like mortgage-backed securities), municipal bonds, and increasingly private credit and infrastructure debt.
Fixed income plays a vital role in portfolio construction. Traditionally, it offers capital preservation, income generation, and diversification against equity market risk. The asset class is especially important for investors with long-term liabilities, such as pension funds and insurers, due to its potential for duration matching and managing interest rate or inflation exposure.
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Asset managers operating in fixed income must navigate a wide variety of market segments, credit qualities, and geographies, managing risk through interest rate forecasting, credit analysis, and macroeconomic insight. In recent years, the asset class has evolved significantly, with the rise of active credit strategies, ESG-integrated bonds, and unconstrained or absolute return approaches to generate yield in a low-rate environment.