High yield bond funds may not be shooting the lights out so far in 2015, but they are still a good place to be with the domestic economy growing ‘modestly,’ said Andy Toburen, senior portfolio manager at Chartwell Investment Partners. ‘Default rates are in the 2% to 3% range which is low by historical standards and in an environment with a solid economy, reasonably low default rates and pretty good valuations, we like high yield right now,’ said Toburen. The SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK), which yields just under 6%, is down slightly over 1% year-to-date and over 7% in the past 12 months. The entire high yield sector suffered in the fourth quarter of 2014 as lower oil prices dragged down the value of energy related paper. Toburen remains watchful of that particular sector. ‘Certainly the lower quality, triple C rated and distressed paper, some of that is in energy and some in metals and mining, that’s an area where we would be very cautious,’ said Toburen. On the flip side, lower gasoline prices have acted like a tax cut for consumers and that is why Toburen is constructive on sectors which rely on Americans opening their wallets.
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