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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 APRIL 2023 13 COMMERICAL medirectalk explores potential of high yield bonds in 2023 A recent medirectalk saw senior representatives from specialist fund management firm Liontrust address investors in Malta on the potential of high yield bonds. Or- ganised regularly by MeDirect Bank, medirectalks provide a free and unique opportunity for investors to hear directly from some of Europe's most experi- enced fund managers on a broad range of investment strategies and asset classes. Liontrust's Co-Heads of Global Fixed Income, Phil Milburn and Donald Phillips, together with Sharmin Rahman, Investment Manager within Liontrust's Glob- al Fixed Income team, were the guest speakers at the latest event which took place at the Hyatt Re- gency Hotel in St Julian's. Starting with an overview of the macroeconomic context, Mil- burn explained Liontrust's views on the outlook for inflation and interest rates and how these will continue to impact the broader global economy throughout the current year. This presentation was followed by a more detailed look at Lion- trust's own GF High Yield Bond Fund with Phillips presenting an analysis of the Fund's perfor- mance as well as Liontrust's cur- rent thoughts and positioning for the fund given what is currently happening within the investment sphere. Philips also discussed the outlook for the rest of 2023, high- lighting why Liontrust believes there is considerable positive po- tential in quality high yield bonds. Rahman provided details on the holdings within the Fund and the rigorous selection process adopt- ed by Lionstrust when choosing which bonds to invest it. The presentations were followed by a question-and-answer session and a drinks reception during which attendees continued to discuss their investment options with representatives from both Lion- trust and MeDirect. James Beddall, Head of Inter- national Sales at Liontrust, who moderated the Q&A session, said, "2023 has, without doubt, already provided its fair share of challenges as investors continue to grapple with how the higher inflation and interest rates which we are currently experiencing will continue to impact the real economy. Our overall outlook now is for interest rates to peak at a lower level than previously anticipated and for a mild reces- sion in the latter part of this year. In this context, there are real op- portunities to make money from the quality end of the high yield bond market over the long term, but investors need to be careful in choosing where to invest in as the risks of default by weaker compa- nies increase." Liontrust was launched in 1995 and is headquartered in London with offices in Luxembourg and Edinburgh. The company was listed on the London Stock Ex- change in 1999 and entered the FTSE 250 in 2020. At the end of 2022, the company had a total of €36.8 billion in assets under management, of which €441 mil- lion were managed by the Global Fixed Income Team. Ingrid Micallef, Head – Prod- ucts & Marketing at MeDirect Malta, said, "Our third medirec- talk of 2023, which was also our first in person event of the year, tackled a very specific topic, that of high yield bonds. At the same time, the event gave investors the opportunity to hear first-hand from the global experts at Lion- trust on how they see the global economy evolving this year. This combination of detailed infor- mation about particular invest- ments, coupled with broader eco- nomic insight from a wide variety of sources is what makes the me- directalk series so popular. In an uncertain world, MeDirect will continue to provide high quality information and insight to em- power investors to make the best financial decisions for them." A recording of this medirectalk, as well as of prior events are avail- able on https://medirect.com.mt/ invest/medirectalk. Shine Your Light: New song for the Games of the Small States of Europe launched POPULAR singers Amber and AIDAN will be singing the of- ficial song for the Games of the Small States of Europe, taking place between the 29th May and the 3rd June. Aptly named Shine Your Light, the lyrics were written by Amber, whilst the music score was co-written by Amber and El- ton Zarb. The song is a musing of the emotions that athletes go through in preparation for com- petition. The fear of losing hope and the holding on to dreams. With just a little more than a month to go for the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Small States of Europe to take place, the launch of the official song co-incided with an informal event hosted for Games volun- teers hosted the Maltese Olympic Committee at one of the Games venues – the Basketball Pavillion in Ta' Qali. "We are thrilled with the song. The spirit and emotions of the Games have been beautifully cap- tured and are something that ath- letes can wholly relate to! We are sure that this song will become a popular hit in no time at all" com- mented Julian Pace Bonello, Pres- ident, Maltese Olympic Commit- tee. Volunteers during the Games will be allocated a variety of re- sponsibilities, ranging from man- aging venues, technical expertise for each sport, time-keeping, me- dia, liason officers with teams and officials. Local Organisation Chairman Mark Cutajar emphasized the responsiblity volunteers have to- wards these Games in ensuring that they create a welcoming en- vironment and sense of commu- nity to the hundreds of athletes and officials coming to Malta for these Games. Echoing these sen- timents was Joe Cassar, who was responsible in setting up the vol- unteer structure for these Games. He emphasized their importance, describing them as the unsung heroes of such events who play such an important role in this sporting event. Apart from members of the Maltese Olympic Committee and Local Organising Committe, present for the event was Hon. Dr Clifton Grima, Minister for Ed- ucation, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation. Over 1,000 athletes and officials representing the 9 GSSE countries will be in Malta to compete in 10 disciplines including – athletics, basketball, judo, rugby 7s, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, ta- ble-tennis and table tennis. The XIX Games of the Small States of Europe are being sup- ported by SportMalta, NDSF, Welbee's Supermarket, Nation- al Lottery, MITA, General Soft Drinks, Visit Malta, European Olympic Committees, Go, En- emed, BOV, Transport Malta, Malta International Airport and The Concept Stadium.