Europe

Welcome to 2023! At the start of the new year, bonfire rituals across the globe celebrate the time for renewal. Our Global Corporate Bond team have evaluated perspectives for the market by asking themselves the ten most burning questions for the year ahead – and finding the answers.

In TwentyFour Asset Management’s annual fixed income outlook, Eoin Walsh says that with rates now offering both yield and downside mitigation, and credit yields at near-decade highs, fixed income investors could enjoy strong returns in 2023.

Structural themes underlie opportunities in the year ahead. Our Quality Growth portfolio managers expect stock performance will be more closely tied to earnings growth, the US consumer will remain healthy, select emerging markets are poised for continued growth, and certain Chinese stocks will benefit from a reopening.

As the cycle of market excesses comes to an end, how can investors prepare? Tilt towards a portfolio of less-cyclical companies with pricing power; don’t mistake quality companies for those with an exciting story; and watch out for underestimated risks, such as carbon emission liabilities.

George Curtis looks at market conditions in the third quarter of 2022.

With Europe facing an energy crisis and the UK bracing for a five-quarter recession, a strong allocation bias to the US seems a no-brainer. However, George Curtis says that when looking at relative value in fixed income, the decision is never that simple.

Fixed rate bond yields may have climbed as markets priced in higher interest rates, but both existing and new investors in floating rate bonds have more to gain as central banks keep hiking, says Pauline Quirin

With bank Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds broadly trading at a 10% discount to par and many being priced to perpetuity, Dillon Lancaster suggests investors are either missing or ignoring the solid fundamentals on show in Q2 earnings.

Pierre Beniguel explains why high yield issuers are selling new bonds at steep discounts to par value, and why this represents an opportunity to build potentially significant performance into fixed income portfolios going forward.

European ABS issuers largely held off on printing new deals in Q2 as broader market volatility saw spreads widen, but we are already seeing more investor-friendly structures and many favoured names are likely to bring deals offering markedly higher yields when activity picks up again.

A member from our Multi-Sector Bond team reviews the main market drivers in the second quarter of 2022 and explains how the Strategic Income team is tackling today’s environment.

With Heimstaden showing its commitment to corporate hybrids with a €600m tender offer, Pierre Beniguel looks at the complex decision issuers have to make and says more could follow suit with bonds trading at steep discounts.