Unconstrained credit investing: a flexible, high-conviction strategy for alpha generation and capital preservation across cycles
The need for unconstrained credit has never been greater. Investors are seeking resilient income and consistent returns at a time when the fixed income universe is broader, more complex and less well served by traditional benchmarks, requiring flexibility, diversification and active risk management.
The Aviva Investors Global Unconstrained Credit strategy directly addresses today’s fixed income realities of a growing and more complex market. Rising demand for reliable income and resilient returns combine with an evolving asset class, creating broader opportunities beyond traditional benchmarks. It offers flexible access to global credit opportunities, supported by a disciplined, repeatable investment framework.
Why invest?
Our Global Unconstrained Credit strategy can offer the most efficient way to access global credit opportunities, having the flexibility to protect capital, the breadth to capture alpha, and the discipline to navigate every part of the credit cycle.
The strategy dynamically allocates to the most compelling risk-adjusted opportunities, supported by disciplined risk management and the breadth of the Aviva Investors’ fixed income platform.
Diversified alpha
Our cross-sector Matrix Pod framework identifies key fixed income risk drivers and guides dynamic allocation across global credit as fixed income risks evolve. Paired with rigorous bottom-up security selection, the approach aims to support consistent alpha through the credit cycle.
Consistent performance
Our technology-enabled fixed income platform combines broad capabilities and collective expertise to identify relative value across regions, sectors and the capital structure. We aim to build a high-conviction portfolio for resilient returns through the credit cycle.
Embedded resilience
Our SHIELD framework provides a more deliberate approach to downside management through active drawdown control and proprietary risk systems, helping portfolios stay invested through volatility and deploy capital when opportunities are most compelling.
A scaled, integrated fixed income franchise
Explore how Aviva Investors is evolving its fixed income platform for today’s market challenges, with Fraser Lundie, Global Head of Fixed Income, highlighting how our latest strategies are designed to support investors in an ever-changing market.
Transcript for video A scaled, integrated fixed income franchise
Fixed income plays a central role in investor portfolios – increasingly relied upon for resilient income and portfolio stability across market environments.
At Aviva Investors, fixed income is a core capability – built over decades and continually evolving to meet the needs of wealth, institutional and insurance clients.
We manage fixed income at scale across public and private markets, drawing on deep fundamental research, active risk management and close collaboration across specialist teams.
Our integrated platform is built around client objectives – delivering solutions across the risk‑and‑return spectrum, with capital preservation and dependable outcomes through the cycle.
The fixed income opportunity set has broadened significantly, creating more opportunities for income and diversification than ever before.
But it has also become more complex, as markets overlap and risks become more nuanced.
Success now depends on skilled credit selection, flexible portfolio construction, and a clear understanding of how risks interact.
Our fixed income platform brings together breadth of capability, specialist research and data‑driven insight to support more informed outcomes for clients.
This shift has driven closer collaboration between our Fixed Income and Multi‑Asset teams,ensuring solutions are co‑created around real portfolio needs.
That approach is reflected in the launch of three new fixed income strategies, each designed to deliver distinct portfolio outcomes – from growth to capital preservation and income.
We’re launching dedicated strategies in Senior Asset‑Backed Securities and Global Hybrids – asset classes where we’ve invested successfully for decades.
These strategies act as targeted building blocks, providing access to specialist areas of fixed income with distinct risk and return drivers, delivering high-quality income and diversification.
For investors seeking flexible, outcome-focused solutions, we’re launching our Global Unconstrained Credit strategy, backed by the scale and breadth of our fixed income platform.
Its flexible, benchmark‑agnostic approach enables dynamic allocation across sectors and regions, targeting dependable income while actively managing risk through the cycle.
Alongside our core strategies, we design tailored fixed income portfolios around client needs.
Across every mandate, our focus is the same: resilient outcomes through disciplined portfolio construction – not market beta.
Together, these capabilities position Aviva Investors as a comprehensive fixed income partner, built to support investors through today’s complexity and every stage of the cycle.
Explore fund performance and key data
Find the latest prices and performance data in our fund centre via the links below. If you have any questions, please contact our distribution team.
Aviva Investors Global Unconstrained Credit Fund (SICAV)
The fund aims to generate capital growth and provide income over the long term.
Investment philosophy
Unconstrained credit is the most efficient way to harness the full spectrum of global credit opportunities. Our approach combines the flexibility to invest across the full global credit universe – including investment grade, high yield, emerging market debt, hybrid bonds and structured credit – with a structured, repeatable decision-making framework. Supported by advanced technology, specialist research and data‑driven insights, our focus is on delivering consistent alpha as market conditions evolve.
Global and flexible allocation
Our flexible, benchmark‑agnostic approach is powered by a structured cross‑asset Matrix Pods framework and rigorous bottom-up security selection. This enables dynamic allocation to the most compelling relative‑value global credit opportunities across regions, sub‑asset classes and credit qualities, supporting diversified sources of alpha.
Optimised portfolio construction
We harness the breadth and depth of our global credit platform, supported by advanced technology to access a richer opportunity set. Our collective, team‑based approach, enhances issuer‑level insight and relative‑value identification, building high‑conviction portfolios optimised for efficiency and resilience.
Downside protection
We build a diversified portfolio of resilient, high‑conviction securities through rigorous bottom‑up analysis, with downside protection embedded through our SHIELD framework and a disciplined option overlay strategy. Our aim is to provide structural resilience and protect capital through market stress.
Investment insights
Investment thinking that brings together the collective insight of Aviva Investors’ teams from across the globe on the key themes influencing markets.
Views
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This month’s Bond Voyage looks at the Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) market in the UK – the quiet market making loud moves.
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Bond Voyage: SHIELD: Refining downside protection in fixed income
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In this month’s Bond Voyage, we introduce SHIELD – the downside protection framework used by our fixed income division. SHIELD is designed to ensure our portfolios remain resilient in challenging market conditions while maintaining capital efficiency.
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Bond Voyage: Higher for longer – again?
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In this month’s Bond Voyage, our solutions team explores the implications of a “higher for longer” US interest rate environment and what it could mean for investment grade (IG) investors.
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Bond Voyage: EM local currency debt: The stars align
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In this month’s Bond Voyage, our emerging market (EM) debt team explains why, after a few false dawns, the stars seem to have aligned for EM local currency debt to outperform other global fixed income assets.
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Bucking the trend: Emerging market debt shows its mettle amid wider market turbulence
19 May 2025
Emerging-market debt has proved a rare bright spot so far this year as investors struggle to assess the impact of US political upheaval. In this article, Carmen Altenkirch and Nafez Zouk advance reasons why the market is well placed to weather ongoing market turbulence.
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From tactical to strategic: Investing in emerging-market hard currency debt in your fixed-income portfolio
13 May 2025
Investors should consider EMD hard currency for a long-term strategic allocation within fixed-income portfolios to boost portfolio returns, rather than just a short-term tactical play.
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Bond Voyage: Heading into the unknown
6 May 2025
In May, our EMD team discusses the most effective way to manage fixed income through episodes of heightened uncertainty.
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Bond Voyage: Up and down and around
4 Apr 2025
This month, our fixed income teams discuss the drivers behind emerging and developed market convergence, what the US hybrid boom has in store, the continued popularity of money-market funds, and the ups and downs of high yield.
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Bond Voyage: Ready, set, watch
10 Mar 2025
This month, our fixed income teams discuss the boom in hybrid issuance and weigh up the risks and opportunities of potential tariffs, interest rate moves and fiscal dynamics.
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Bond Voyage: The resilience factor
10 Feb 2025
As we negotiate an uncertain landscape, our fixed income teams reflect on potential sources of resilience.
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Bond Voyage: In the starting blocks
13 Jan 2025
With a new US president poised to take office, central banks diverging and ongoing political uncertainty, how are the key fixed income asset classes positioned for the year ahead?
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Bond Voyage: Dancing into 2025
9 Dec 2024
This month, we explore how US Treasuries are taking a breath, why 2025 could be the year of carry for high yield, what increasing dispersion means for emerging markets, and how surging M&A activity could affect investment-grade bonds.
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US election 2024: Some initial thoughts from our fund managers
6 Nov 2024
Aviva Investors fund managers Edward Hutchings, Liam Spillane and Max Burns offer their initial thoughts on what the US election means for financial markets.
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Bond Voyage: Around the world in 30 days
4 Nov 2024
This month, our fixed-income investment teams discuss US elections, IMF meetings, US versus European high yield, managing declining rates for cash, and what the future might hold in store for gilts.
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Illiquidity premia in private debt: Q3 2024
30 Oct 2024
In our latest private markets deep dive, our research team crunches the data to see how evolving macro conditions are reflected in private debt returns.
Bond Voyage
Bond Voyage: A journey into fixed income
Each month, our freewheeling fixed-income newsletter gathers insights from our high-yield, investment-grade, emerging-market and global sovereign bond teams.
House View
House View
No one can predict the future. But our quarterly House View sets out the collective wisdom of our investment teams on the current state of global markets – and where they might be heading.
Key risks
For further information on the risks and risk profiles of our funds, please refer to the relevant KIID and Prospectus.
Investment/objective risk: The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the original amount invested.
Convertible securities risk: Convertible bonds can earn less income than comparable debt securities. They can also earn less growth than comparable equity securities, and carry a high level of risk.
Counterparty risk: The Strategy could lose money if an entity with which it does business becomes unwilling or is unable to meet its obligations to the Strategy.
Credit and interest rate risk: Bond values are affected by changes in interest rates and the bond issuer's creditworthiness. Bonds that offer the potential for a higher income typically have a greater risk of default.
Currency risk: The strategy is exposed to different currencies. Derivatives are used to minimise, but may not always eliminate, the impact of movements in currency exchange rates.
Derivatives risk: Investments can be made in derivatives, which can be complex and highly volatile. Derivatives may not perform as expected, meaning significant losses may be incurred. Derivatives can have some degree of unpredictability (especially in unusual market conditions), and can create losses significantly greater than the cost of the derivative itself.
Emerging market risk: Investments can be made in emerging markets. These markets may be volatile and carry higher risk than developed markets.
Interest rate risk: When interest rates rise, bond values generally fall. This risk is generally greater for longer-term bonds and for bonds with higher credit quality.
Leverage markets risk: A small price decline on a "leveraged" underlying investment will create a correspondingly larger loss for the Strategy. A high overall level of leverage and/or unusual market conditions could create significant losses for the Strategy.
Market risk: Prices of many securities (including bonds, equities and derivatives) change continuously, and can at times fall rapidly and unpredictably.
Sustainable investing risk: The level of sustainability risk to which the Strategy is exposed, and therefore the value of its investments, may fluctuate depending on the investment opportunities identified by the Investment Manager.
Operational risk: Human error or process/system failures, internally or at our service providers, could create losses for the Strategy.
Global Unconstrained Credit team
Chris Higham
Senior Portfolio Manager
Kurt Knowlson
Senior Portfolio Manager
Mark Dove
Credit Portfolio Manager
Karan Power
Junior Portfolio Manager
Explore
Fixed income
Fixed income is an indispensable building block for meeting a variety of investment goals, including income, inflation protection, liability management and capital appreciation.
Senior ABS Income
This strategy aims to earn income and capital growth over the long term (five years or more), by investing in a diversified portfolio of high-grade structured finance securities.
Global Hybrid Bonds
This strategy aims to enhance income and diversify portfolios in a changing fixed income environment marked by sustained demand for income, evolving regulation, and an expanding opportunity set.