The M&G Optimal Income fund is a flexible fund that can perform well in a wide variety of market conditions. Central to the investment philosophy of the M&G Optimal Income fund is that every bond has two characteristics: duration and credit risk. Duration is a measure of how sensitive a bond's price is to changes in interest rates, and is similar to the life of a bond. Credit risk is the risk of a company defaulting on its debts. At various stages throughout the economic cycle, credit risk or duration could be attractive, or both or neither may be attractive. The optimal income stream is the combination of duration and credit risk that maximises total return at any point in time. The manager uses a top-down investment approach to determine the optimal income stream throughout the economic cycle. To achieve the fund's investment objective, the fund manager may use derivatives.