Q&A with Calamos Co-CIO, Head of Alternative Strategies, Co-Head of Convertible Strategies and Senior Co-Portfolio Manager Eli Pars and Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer Robert F. Behan.

In a strong equity market, some convertibles can have a high degree of participation, but can also leave clients exposed to downside risk. Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, explains how active management helps “create a portfolio that has the optimal risk/reward throughout the full market cycles.”

Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, points out that convertibles have historically produced positive total returns during rising rate environments that traditional fixed income has struggled with.

Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, observes that technology companies are typically growth companies, often with healthy valuations. An investor in a tech company’s convertible expects to participate in the upside when anticipated growth materializes, while seeking to avoid much of the downside if it does not.

A convertible issuer’s below-investment grade rating—or no rating at all—is not the negative signal that an uninformed investor might expect, explains Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager.

Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, looks at why convertibles often make sense for smaller, mid-cap companies with an established growth niche and for larger growth companies seeking capital for future growth.

Joe Wysocki, CFA, Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager, provides an overview of the convertibles market, noting “opportunities to give us the asymmetric risk/reward profile that we think is the sweet spot of convertible investing.”

Calamos Founder, Chairman and Global CIO John Calamos, Sr. and Eli Pars, Co-CIO, Head of Alternative Strategies and Co-Head of Convertible Strategies, Senior Co-Portfolio Manager, discuss how actively managed convertible securities can be deployed strategically and tactically in an asset allocation.