MTB Investment Advisors plans to buy about $5-10 million of off-the-run industrial floaters. Wilmer Stith, portfolio manager of $250 million in Baltimore, said he sticks to a barbell strategy and will add floating rate notes because he expects a flattening curve. The money manager specified he will use some new cash and sell some longer-dated Treasuries, beyond 10 years, to buy off-the-run floaters. The fund is currently about 15% overweight in corporates.
On the flip side, Stith said he may add Treasuries if the geopolitical situation warrants it. Specifically, he would buy long Treasuries if the Iraq situation worsens and "gets out of hand." The fund is 15% underweight in mortgages, marginally overweight in Treasuries and 10-15% underweight in agencies. He said these are all approximations and cannot be quantified exactly because it is not benchmarked in a direct fashion.
The fund is short duration in relation to the Lipper Intermediate Investment Grade, which it uses as a rough guide. The benchmark's duration is 3.625 years and the fund's is 3.25 years, or 10% short.
