FOR the second time in a row, Sunday Money 's fund manager of the month is a US-based American and, according to the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA), the fund has achieved noticeably high returns. The company he works for is Brown Brothers Harriman, which deals in US bonds rather than small US companies.
The man behind the HKIFA's ''manager of the month'' title is David Wright, who insisted he should not be alone in receiving credit for the fund's performance.
''There's just no way you can separate me from the rest of the group. One person cannot take credit for this award,'' he said Pennsylvania-born and educated at Columbia University, Mr Wright agreed he was instrumental in determining the fund's bond distribution and had a role in examining and predicting the movement of interest rates.
''There are various types of US Treasury bonds, and my job is to choose the best possible combination of bonds for the portfolio, using the appropriate percentage of each type selected,'' he said.
To understand how Mr Wright goes about the management of the fund, it is essential to look at how the bond market operates in relation to interest rates.
''First, the US Government issues bonds for different periods, some to be redeemed in two or three years, others which have repayment dates of 30 years or even more. And when we select various bonds for the funds, we must look at all these different timeperiods and how they are closely related to the rise and fall of interest rates,'' he said.