M.D. Sass Short Term Agency & Intermediate Strategies Named PSN Mortgage Backed Managers of the Decade

Quarterly PSN Top Guns List published by Zephyr identifies best-in-class separate accounts, managed accounts, and managed ETF strategies.

New York, NY — February 26, 2025 — M.D. Sass is honored to share that our Short Term Agency and Intermediate Fixed Income strategies have received PSN Mortgage Backed Managers of the Decade awards as well as other accolades as part of the PSN Top Guns List of best performing separate accounts, managed accounts, and managed ETF strategies for Q4 2024.

“The final quarter of 2024 was defined by both volatility and resilience, success in these markets required relentless effort, rigorous research, and disciplined execution,” says PSN Product Manager Nick Williams. “PSN Top Guns recognizes the top managers and teams whose expertise continues to drive the growth of SMAs amid today’s complex and rapidly evolving market conditions.”

“We believe these awards highlight the ability of our strategies to offer yield, return potential and downside protection for fixed income investors that are looking for differentiated, less correlated fixed income exposures that also emphasize quality and liquidity,” said Lipkee Lu, Director of Fixed Income Investments. “These designations also reflect the edges we believe we bring to investing in Structured Credit – the ability to find differentiated alpha opportunities across the Structured Credit spectrum, being an early mover into undervalued opportunities as they arise and new asset classes and structures as they emerge, and managing volatility through a multi-faceted, value-accretive risk management approach.”

Short Term Agency and Intermediate are part of M.D. Sass’ suite of top performing fixed income strategies across the yield curve and the risk/returns spectrum. The firm has been a specialist investor in a growing array of Structured products over the last 30+ years focused on finding pockets of value backed by high quality collateral.

Through a combination PSN’s proprietary performance screens, the PSN Top Guns awards products in six proprietary categories in over 75 universes based on continued performance over time.

M.D. Sass Short Term Agency and Intermediate strategies each earned the following PSN Top Guns awards:

Managers of the Decade – had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the latest 10-year period. The strategy’s returns were greater than the style benchmark for the latest 10-year period and also standard deviation less than the style benchmark for the latest ten-year period. The top ten performers for the latest 10-year period become the PSN Top Guns Manager of the Decade.

6 Star Top Guns Rating – had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the recent five-year period. The strategy’s returns exceeded the style benchmark for the three latest three-year rolling periods. Products are then selected which have a standard deviation for the five-year period equal or less than the median standard deviation for the peer group. The top ten information ratios for the latest five-year period then become the 6 Star Top Guns.

5 Star Top Guns Rating – had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the recent five-year period. The strategy’s returns exceeded the style benchmark for the three latest three-year rolling periods. Products are then selected which have a standard deviation for the five-year period equal or less than the median standard deviation for the peer group. The top ten returns for the latest three-year period then become the 5 Star Top Guns.

The complete list of PSN Top Guns and an overview of the methodology can be located at https://psn.fi.informais.com/.

For more information on our fixed income strategies, please contact Cris Posada at 212-843-8973 / cposada@mdsass.com .

About M.D. Sass
M.D. Sass is a boutique asset management firm based in New York that has been creating highly differentiated investment strategies for over 50 years. We take pride in identifying undiscovered and misperceived opportunities through rigorous fundamental research. Today, M.D. Sass and its affiliates manage approximately $3 billion across a range of fixed income, equity and alternative for corporations, public funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and high net worth individuals.

About PSN
For nearly four decades, PSN has been a top resource for investment professionals. Asset managers rely on Zephyr’s PSN to effectively reach institutional and retail investors. Over 2,800 firms, 285 universes, and more than 21,000 products comprise the PSN SMA database showing asset breakdowns, compliance, key personnel, ownership diversity, ESG, business objectives and strategy, style, fees, GIC sectors, fixed income ranges and full holdings. Unique to PSN is its robust historical database of nearly 40 Years of Data Including Net and Gross-of-Fee Returns. PSN Mid-Year Outlook provides insight and trends about the SMA industry. Visit PSN online to learn more.

Important Disclosures
Zephyr determines ratings based on gross returns that do not consider the impact of an adviser’s investment advisory fees. Had such ratings been based on net returns, the M.D. Sass Fixed Income Strategies may have received different ratings. M.D. Sass cannot control how such ratings are calculated as Zephyr is an independent third-party. M.D. Sass does not confirm or review the accuracy of Zephyr’s ranking of the Fixed Income Strategies. M.D. Sass is unaware of any factor that could call into question the validity of the ranking by Zephyr. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The ratings herein may not be representative of any one client’s experience because the rating may not reflect any actual client experience. M.D. Sass does not guarantee any minimum level of investment performance or the success of any of its investment strategies, and investors may incur losses. M.D. Sass does not provide tax or legal advice, or determine an investor’s investment objectives, risk tolerance or suitability. Certain statements contained in this report represent forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. In addition, while the information contained herein from third parties was from sources we believe to be reasonably reliable as of the date hereof, M.D. Sass accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions or misstatements however caused related thereto. Opinions expressed herein are those of the author, are subject to change, are not guaranteed and should not be considered investment advice.