Sharing our convictions

In a sub-zero world, the opportunities to generate income have dwindled. Just keeping yields above zero is proving a challenge to the most experienced of bond investors. However, the emerging market corporate bond world offers a two-trillion US dollar investment universe where yield is abundant.

Aided by social media and e-commerce, startup brands are increasingly taking share from legacy consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Meanwhile, retailers are launching far more sophisticated private-label brands. Which CPG companies are adapting to survive these threats? And do CPG stocks still play a role in portfolio construction?

With ample job openings, inflation well ahead of target, financial conditions that are certainly not tight and strong economic growth, the obvious question is what does the Fed need to see to finally start tapering its asset purchases?

BWIC – or bids wanted in competition – lists, are a unique characteristic of the ABS and CLO markets, where they are widely used in secondary trading when investors are looking to sell bonds.

Markets have dissected every word uttered at the US Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium. One thing remains as clear as ever: The Fed won’t rush rate hikes, also because inflation is no real worry – or is it? Sweating under the studio lights, five Vontobel experts discuss prices, growth, and what keeps them up at night.

TwentyFour Asset Management’s purpose-built Observatory platform scans the global universe of bonds looking for ESG stars.

Discussions by the office water cooler now often revolve around peak growth or peak inflation and their implications. The rapid change of the economic environment can indeed be confusing. To get a clearer idea about our views on the “real” state of the economy, we use our business cycle model “Wave” to help explain.

Fixed income investors are in "pole position to push for change" when it comes to ESG

The definitions of what ESG really means are still blurry and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability. If anything, the growing popularity of these funds has highlighted the differences in the expectations of both individual investors and institutions when it comes to ESG.

Creating a truly sustainable bond fund is no mean feat. Unlike the listed equity universe, where ESG data is more readily available, it is often sorely lacking in the fixed income space. At the same time, the problem for fixed income managers is exacerbated by the complexity of a bond’s structure, consisting of multiple parts which must all be individually assessed.

As we rapidly descend upon the fourth quarter of this extraordinary year, we think some of the risks fixed income investors faced back in Q1 will rear their heads again before the end of 2021.

In the latest Global Market Outlook, our specialist team for quantitative investment and active risk premium management explains what its models are signaling while market participants remain risk-on.