We see three key reasons to be optimistic on convertibles in 2H24.
First, the potential inflecting interest rate cycle across developed markets is likely to benefit both convert valuations and their underlying equities. Second, political crosscurrents in both Europe and the US are likely to present ongoing dispersion and outperformance opportunities. Third, convert primary market issuance year-to-date has been strong and diverse and we foresee this continuing for the rest of 2024 and into next year...
David joined Polar Capital in October 2010 to establish the global convertibles team and is co-manager of the Global Convertible Fund and the Global Absolute Return Fund.
David is an experienced convertible bond specialist, having spent 36 years in the asset class in both investment banking and investment management. Before joining Polar Capital in October 2010 to establish the Convertible team, he was joint CEO of Vicis Capital (UK) Ltd which he joined in 2006 to set up and manage the international convertible portfolio of the New York-based hedge fund. David started his career at Salomon Brothers International and moved to Baii (a subsidiary of BNP Paribas) in 1987, where he first started managing convertibles. He joined Schroders in 1996 and Citigroup in 2000 following the Citi takeover of Schroder Investment Bank.
Stephen McCormick
Stephen joined Polar Capital in October 2010 and is co-manager of the Global Convertible Fund and the Global Absolute Return Fund.
Prior to moving into convertible trading, Stephen was a research analyst at Tucker Anthony. In 1993 he became a partner in Forum Capital Markets, eventually joining Paine Webber in 1994 where he went on to manage their convertible department until 1998. He was a senior member of the convertible sales team at Morgan Stanley before establishing and managing Valmiki Capital Management in 2005. The following year, he moved to Moore Capital where he, as a member of a three-person team, managed a $1bn global long/short equity portfolio before joining Vicis Capital to manage the US convertible bond portfolio in 2008.
