Following the RBA’s back-to-back rate cuts at its June and July meetings, it’s time to settle into the fact that low interest rates are here to stay. With the official cash rate at a record low 1.00%, we look at strategies to optimise investor returns on fixed income portfolios.

Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ) is an ASX-listed regional bank that provides banking, financial services and insurance products, mainly to retail, SME and commercial clients.

Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ) is an ASX-listed regional bank that provides banking, financial services and insurance products, mainly to retail, SME and commercial clients.

Following completion of the sale of the Mossman mill, Mackay Sugar has scheduled the shareholders vote to 29 July 2019 which, if approved, will be the final step in the proposed recapitalisation of the company by Nordzucker. If this was to occur, we expect the notes to be redeemed no later than 30 August 2019.

Western Digital Corp.’s 2026 maturity USD bond is the latest addition to FIIG’s DirectBond list. Rated one notch below investment grade (IG), it offers an attractive risk-return for investors seeking USD credit exposure with yield in excess of 4.50%pa.

Western Digital Corporation (Western Digital, Company) is a leading developer, manufacturer and provider of data storage services and solutions.

We have downgraded our recommendation on Plenary Bond Co 6.50% notes due 2024 (Notes) due to recent price action and further yield compression. We believe the Notes now offer limited value compared to peers. Our credit outlook on the Notes remains Stable.

Given the recent price action, and further yield compression due to the relative proximity of the next call date and current trading price well above the call price, we have downgraded our recommendation on Merredin Energy's 7.50% notes due 2022 (Notes). Our credit outlook on the Notes remains Stable.

Deloitte, the voluntary administrator of Axsesstoday, provided an update on the current sale process. Deloitte has advised that they have entered into an exclusivity arrangement with an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) to finalise terms on which Cerberus proposes to acquire all of the assets of AXL by way of a deed of company arrangement.

The July 2019 update to our DirectBond List including new additions and our current Trading Restrictions list.

We provide an update to noteholders on the progression of ongoing discussions with Lucas following our credit update dated 24 May 2019. Our recommendation on Lucas’ notes due 2022 remains unchanged.

Auswide Bank Ltd. (ABA) is a small ASX-listed bank that provides retail banking services across Australia.

Fund managers have been rotating out of their equity allocations into cash and bonds, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Global Fund Manager Survey results for June. This is largely due to a pessimistic outlook and is a timely reminder that portfolios should be well-diversified with an allocation to more defensive assets.

With bond yields continuing to move lower, investors are now adjusting to the new reality of risk adjusted returns.

Following the publication of our Credit Outlook on 29 January 2019, we are providing this summary of new and changed recommendations over the past five months, as well as the list of all our current recommendations as of the date of this update.

Following the announcement that Eric Insurance had finalised an agreement with ASIC in relation to its remediation program, we believe that the near term prospects for the Company have improved and no longer considered speculative. While we are of the view that Eric, and the insurance sector more generally are facing some headwinds, we believe the notes, at an indicative mid-price of AUD77.50, offer good relative value, with real prospects of capital appreciation over the near-to-medium term.

On 18 June 2019, Eric Insurance announced that it had agreed with ASIC the terms of the remediation program, with total remediation costs expected to reach AUD3.4m. The finalisation of the terms of remediation removes a significant uncertainty for Eric in our opinion. Pending discussions with the Company, we are placing our recommendation Under Review, noting the likelihood that the previous Speculative recommendation will be revised.

UK investment bank and financial services company, Barclays PLC, has launched an Australian dollar multi-tranche [5] year fixed coupon and floating rate note (FRN), and a [10] year fixed coupon note.