Investment Grade

Telefonica’s reopening of the corporate hybrid market is further evidence that large issuers with proven track records and strong financials will call their bonds even if it looks uneconomic to do so, says Johnathan Owen.

With well over €10bn of new bonds sold by European banks and corporates on Monday, Felipe Villarroel analyses the pricing and looks at the patterns that usually emerge when primary markets reopen.

With Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt leading a more fiscally conservative UK government, Johnathan Owen checks in on sterling asset valuations and argues the UK premium is overcompensating for underlying risks.

With rates volatility persisting and developed markets likely sliding toward recession, Jack Daley revisits our research on BBB defaults and returns and explains why we tend to maintain a significant allocation to BBB credit.

US banks remain bullish about the health of the consumer, but credit spreads are still pricing in not only a recession, but a fairly severe one. Are the banks wrong? Or have credit markets just backed up too far on negative fund flows?

With corporate bond spreads having risen to not far short of crisis levels, Johnathan Owen argues the 4%-plus yields on offer in short dated investment grade are an attractive entry point for investors that might not be around for long.

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.

After H1 2022 broke market records for all the wrong reasons, Gary Kirk says fixed income outflows could reverse quickly if investors see evidence that central banks are turning the tide on inflation.

At this stage in the economic cycle investors may need to think about ways to protect their portfolios while providing strong relative value. Johnathan Owen explains why short dated investment grade can offer exactly that in his latest blog.

We can debate whether the European Central Bank is behind the curve or not, but Christine Lagarde says rates will be in non-negative territory by September.

With investors having endured a painful period of rising yields in 2022, Mark Holman looks at whether rates weakness or credit spread widening has been most to blame.

The broad-based sell-off that has faced investors since the start of this year has been all the more painful because of the breakdown in traditional correlations, which has put conventional hiding places out of reach.