Commentaries

As rates moved higher in Q3, the class F units of the Bond Universe Fund were down 1.5%1, relatively outperforming their benchmark however by 1.5%2. This quarter saw the first US rate hike in over three years, with most of the move higher along the curve in Q3 taking place into quarter-end, post the Fed’s […]

In September, one theme was difficult to ignore: the growing divergence between the areas of the market driving returns and those being left behind. Dispersion has been a recurring feature of 2026, but it became particularly pronounced heading into the fall. For the month, the Pender US Small/Mid Cap Equity Fund declined 2.0%, roughly in […]

In September, the Pender Small Cap Opportunities Fund returned 0.1%¹, outperforming the Russell 2000 Index, which declined 2.7%, and the Russell Microcap Index, which fell -1.6%. Small-cap equities faced a challenging backdrop during the month, as elevated interest rates, higher borrowing costs and continued market concentration in large-cap technology weighed on relative performance. Portfolio weights […]

Market Update Equity markets enjoyed a relatively calm end to summer, as August gave investors a reprieve from recent volatility and offered some time to relax. However, once the calendar turned to September and schools reopened, it seemed a switch was flipped. The first signs showed up in the US bond market. We believe stubborn […]

The Pender Corporate Bond Fund had a drawdown of -1.3%1 in September within the context of an aggressive rise in benchmark yields in every major market. Duration-sensitive bonds, which do not form a particularly large portion of the portfolio, experienced significant price declines. Our holding in the longer dated 2052 US TIPS was down over […]

Market Update Equity markets enjoyed a relatively calm end to summer, as August gave investors a reprieve from recent volatility and offered some time to relax. However, once the calendar turned to September and schools reopened, it seemed a switch was flipped. The first signs showed up in the US bond market. We believe stubborn […]

Equity markets enjoyed a relatively calm end to summer, as August gave investors a reprieve from recent volatility and offered some time to relax. However, once the calendar turned to September and schools reopened, it seemed a switch was flipped. The first signs showed up in the US bond market. We believe stubborn inflation, increasing […]

Dear Unitholders, The Pender Alternative Arbitrage Fund and the Pender Alternative Arbitrage Plus Fund were 0.5%1   in August 2026 while the HFRI ED: Merger Arbitrage Index (USD) returned 1.9%2. M&A Market Update Global M&A activity continued its strong recovery through August, with approximately $2.1 trillion of deal value announced during the first eight months of […]

Market Update August kept up with the theme of market volatility, as mid-cycle economic strengthening and an intensifying AI investment supercycle conflicted with the continued geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. Yet, markets proved once again that geopolitical disruption can likely be shrugged off as noise: investors spent much of the month navigating rising bond […]