This is important because it means that even though we invest in high-quality bonds, we are not taking the risks in investment grade fixed income for granted.

In our view, the risks to investment grade bonds are asymmetrical and the downside to investing in a problematic issuer can be significant. Placing in-depth fundamental research at the core of our investment process helps ensure that we are driven to protect our clients’ capital. 

While capital preservation is always our highest priority, we believe Breckinridge's research can help exploit market inefficiencies that could benefit risk-adjusted returns.

      Nick Elfner, Co-Head, Research

We conduct proprietary research that begins at the issuer and security levels. Our research team uses proprietary credit algorithms, a risk-based credit matrix, environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and quantitative and qualitative data to generate internal ratings and opinions on a broad universe of investment grade corporate and municipal issuers. It’s a depth of analysis and breadth of coverage that we believe is unique in the investment grade fixed income sector.

Reflecting our emphasis on research, over half of our investment team consists of research staff, which contributes perspectives from a diverse range of backgrounds, including investment management, rating agencies, academia, government and law. Together, their expertise provides a comprehensive, well-informed view of the municipal and corporate bond markets that helps us navigate up and down credit cycles.

Day in and day out, we continue to challenge ourselves to intensify the rigor of our analysis. We’re not satisfied with the status quo, and aim to identify risks and opportunities before they are broadly recognized. It’s a relentless pursuit that has expanded our research process to integrate pension/OPEB as well as ESG frameworks into our analysis, and that we believe will undoubtedly continue to push our research forward.