Strategic Income Quarterly Update – January 2023

Last Friday, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its semi-annual Risk Assessment Report. It is always a good read, as it provides a summary of trends in the banking sector and highlights risks that might be emerging in parts of the banking system.

Softer US economic data means the pressures on UST yields now look more balanced, but headlines around President Trump’s pick for the next Fed chair are just one reason investors should expect rates volatility to continue.

Blog posts about regulation rarely trouble our most-read charts, but on this occasion we think the payback on time invested looks more compelling.

Last week marked another record-breaking year for the securitisation industry as over 5,500 market participants gathered in Barcelona for the annual Global ABS conference, surpassing last year’s attendance and reflecting the growing momentum across both public asset-backed securities (ABS) and private asset-backed finance (ABF) markets.

Despite Israel and Iran exchanging fire for a fifth day, markets seem to be completely disregarding the possibility of this conflict mutating into something serious for the global economy.

While tariffs have done meaningful damage to the economic outlook and raised volatility in rates markets, the softening of the US stance has restored confidence in credit returns for 2025.