Corporate Credit

Although we think it's too early to declare the economy is in a recession, risk is elevated. For investors who are concerned about a recession, municipal bonds may help buffer a portfolio.

Recent economic data points have been mixed. On the more positive side of the ledger, there’s evidence that inflation is cooling and consumer spending remains sturdy. Conversely, the jobs market is cooling.

Are we going to have a recession? Are we already in a recession?

Before the pandemic hit in 2020, a decade-long bull run in the stock market saw the 60/40 portfolio slowly fall out of favor. With market volatility returning, that 60/40 split appears to be making a comeback.

As recently as the beginning of this year the market pundits were predicting up to six Federal Reserve rate cuts to the short-term Federal Funds Rate. Shockingly, the pundits’ expectations have not come to fruition. Predictions based on the sentiment of the day fill the twenty-four-hour news cycle on multiple outlets.

Markets were recently rattled by concerns the U.S. may slip into recession, but it's not clear that those fears are justified.

We manage risk within our strategic, long-term allocations based on diversification across equity, fixed income, and alternative assets.

The BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC) launched less than 15 months ago and is already approaching $4 billion in AUM.

For years, the emphasis within fixed income investing has been to seek security-specific alpha in an illiquid bond market where no single security significantly impacts portfolio returns.

Bond prices whipsawed over the past month as volatility spiked across markets. What's next for fixed income markets?

The KraneShares Sustainable Ultra Short Duration Index ETF (KCSH) offers low risk income investing with notable yields and diversification.

It's an ideal time to add bonds, especially if they are poised to outperform stocks over the next 10 years.

Actively managed ETFs continued to gain traction in July with $24 billion of net inflows. This represented 19% of the industry’s net inflows.

China’s two-speed economy and the internationalization of the renminbi suggest long-term opportunities may be found amid near-term challenges.

The early August sell-off could represent just the market taking a breather after seven months of fantastic returns and could be right back on track, albeit with additional volatility.

Over the past 20 years, the corporate bond market has experienced an evolution driven by cycles, regulatory shifts, and changing demand.

Until recently, the prevailing market narrative since October was that the Fed was in a "pivot" to eventual rate cuts.

Take the market narrative with a grain of salt and look at the fundamentals in determining your outlook for the economy and financial markets. We ultimately believe this soft patch of data will prove to a be a ‘growth scare,’ not a ‘recession reality.’

A recent mid-year strategist pulse check from Natixis revealed where strategists believe the top opportunities exist across markets.

While election news dominated July's headlines, small-cap stocks had their best monthly performance relative to large-cap stocks since December 2000.

ETFs had a big July, with some leading strategies lifting their YTD inflow totals behind strong July numbers.

Yes, the market could continue to rotate massively from large-cap to small and mid-capitalization companies. However, given the current levels of bullish sentiment and allocations against a backdrop of weakening economic data and widening spreads, this suggests the current rotation may be nothing more than a significant short-covering rally.

It's been another strong first half for the U.S. ETF industry, with overall flows set to challenge or surpass historic records.

Following the historic decision by President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, Raymond James CIO Larry Adam provides insight into his team's economic and market outlook.

The momentum we've seen in U.S. equity markets over the past year continued in the second quarter of 2024. With large technology stocks leading the wave, the S&P 500 index has risen 23% in the 12 months ended June 30.

When looking to pair yield and credit quality, corporate bonds are an ideal option, especially when it comes to investment-grade.

With both economic and inflation data continuing to weaken, expectations of Fed rate cuts are rising. Notably, following the latest consumer price index (CPI) report, which was weaker than expected, the odds of Fed rate cuts by September rose sharply. According to the CME, the odds of a 0.25% cut to the Fed rate are now 90%.

Relatively high yields mean investors who have been focusing on short-term securities wouldn't need to sacrifice much yield if they chose MBS to help limit their reinvestment risk.

Across Europe, ruling parties are under pressure. Bond investors should stay active and invested, in our view.

Issuance of green bonds surged in the first half of 2024. That could put more eyeballs on the VanEck Green Bond ETF (GRNB).

Investors could be shifting to safer debt, which could outperform once the Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates.

Portfolio Manager Daniel Siluk believes subsiding inflation and declining interest rates underpin a compelling argument for investors to reallocate funds away from money market strategies toward shorter-dated bonds.

In the post-pandemic fiscal landscape, government debt trajectories may be volatile, but appear broadly sustainable.

US investors often stick to US markets. But that could be a costly mistake—especially today.

Elections have been anything but easy for investors. What has been easy is financial conditions in the US relative to the level of policy rates, fostering the debate over the degree of policy restrictiveness as global monetary easing begins.

Longer duration Treasuries have been mired in a bear market since 2020 but could finally start to see a reversal of fortune.

Outlook 2024: A Turning Point, released in December 2023, featured our perspective on how stocks might respond to turning points in inflation and monetary policy.

Broad measures of investment-grade municipal bonds didn’t do much of anything in the first half of 2024, but some believe it could be poised for some upside.

Private market growth in recent years has been remarkable. We think there's more to come.

Softening inflation supports the potential for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in coming months, but there are complexities below the surface.

As we survey the economic landscape, we are reminded of Otis Redding’s classic hit, which is all about patience. “Looks like nothing’s gonna change, everything still remains the same.”

More inflows into active bond ETFs during the month of June is following the overall trend of higher inflows since the start of the year.

Taking on credit risk but not interest rate risk has been relatively rewarding to ETF investors thus far in 2024.

Although the market is off to a rough start to the year, we think it should recover.

Comparing public fixed income and private credit markets involves weighing factors related to liquidity, transparency, credit quality, risk premium, and opportunity costs.

Explore the complexities of the high-yield market through comprehensive insights from our experts.

Investors continue to pile into bond funds, looking to add yield now before the Federal Reserve starts instituting rate cuts.

It’s inevitable. A recession is coming. Whether it gets here next month, next quarter, next year, or next decade will be continuously debated until it arrives. Yet, one thing that everyone will agree on is that we will have another recession eventually.

Investors may want to opt for a middle-ground solution for yield and rate risk with intermediate bond funds.

Having hit 31 record highs since January and up more than 15% year to date, the S&P 500 is off to its best start to the year since 2019 and the best start to an election year ever, driven by mega-cap tech stocks and artificial intelligence (AI) tailwinds.

We’re borrowing from the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics for our quarterly theme – with a twist. Instead of using the most popular events (like gymnastics, swimming, and track & field) to express our views, we’ll go beyond the spotlight.

The mid- to long-term costs of missed opportunities by staying in cash mean investors should consider moving off the cash sidelines.

Don’t miss out. Prepare to take advantage of opportunities in the second half.

The giant federal debt we’ve been talking about isn’t just borrowed money. It is also lent money. Loans are two-party transactions. One side receives temporary use of cash which it agrees to repay with interest. The other gives up the current use of that cash in exchange for receiving interest. Ideally, it works out for both… but not always.

Rick Rieder and team argue that the economy is making further progress towards normalization and continues to offer a once-in-a-generation investing opportunity, which isn’t adequately represented by the benchmarks.

Initial rate cuts by the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada may signal a transformative trend toward monetary easing.

Today emerging markets are too big to ignore. The asset class represents a large and growing proportion of the world economy, accounting for over 40% of global GDP in 2022. The asset class includes a broad spectrum of issuers, with investment opportunities of varying risk/return.

Bond investors have been looking for an approach that delivers attractive, repeatable, uncorrelated active returns. Is their wait over?

Corporate bonds continue to garner interest as investors may be locking in current yields now before eventual rate cuts take place.

Although bonds may not always be able to significantly contribute to growing an investor’s wealth, their lower risk profile can bring comfort in positioning an investor to maintain that wealth.