Our Advantage

ICMIM believes the market structure of the global corporate bond market confers a distinct competitive advantage on smaller, more nimble fixed-income managers compared to their equivalent larger investment managers. 
 
The supply of bonds by a given corporate issuer is usually limited to just a few bond issuances. Therefore, the available supply of individual issuer bonds can be very limited relative to the size and appetite of a larger fixed-income manager. In most circumstances, the larger investment manager must compromise and either accept a small percentage exposure within their portfolios or decide not to invest at all.    

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This inefficiency in the marketplace leads to the price of bonds in limited supply, often trading at more attractive levels than larger bond deals issued by the same or comparable issuers. This is because larger investment managers are forced to buy corporate bonds that are more plentiful in supply. Hence, those bonds with limited supply can often offer excess returns relative to their risk. We call this rare alpha.   

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In contrast to larger fixed-income investment managers, ICMIM, as a boutique investment manager, is in a position to buy and gain meaningful exposure to these bonds, offering rare alpha. Our ‘Rare Alpha Advantage’ means we can access a new trade idea quickly, in meaningful size and without disturbing the price or the value opportunity. 

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We aim to combine our 'Rare Alpha Advantage' with our three-pronged investment approach, as described above. This is our clear differentiating and competitive advantage as an investment manager. We believe that this approach cannot be replicated by larger, better-known fixed-income managers. 

ICM's investment approach can be incorporated into client portfolios as a standalone global high-yield strategy or as an effective complement to larger, more market beta-focused managers, resulting in complete global bond exposure for investors.