During the first quarter, global issuance was a very healthy $24.3 billion, the strongest quarter in nearly two years. U.S. issuers led, bringing $13.0 billion to market, followed by Europe at $7.6 billion. Encouragingly, nearly all U.S. issuance was in the form of convertible bonds.
The sorry state of US infrastructure was a major talking point during the 2016 US presidential election, and was seen as one of the few areas that could garner bipartisan political support. But certainly, the need for infrastructure is a global issue that can offer a bridge to economic growth, particularly in emerging markets. Here, the Franklin Real Asset Advisors team builds a case for investing in infrastructure-related securities
When the first round of voting kicks off in the French presidential election on 23 April, the outcome will determine not only France’s political future, but whether the EU moves closer to unity in this critical “super cycle” election year.
During the first quarter of 2017, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500 Index) enjoyed a 6.07% total return. The gains reflect (1) the steady, persistent, non-inflationary economic recovery that has characterized the post-2008 period and (2) investor enthusiasm for President Trump’s pro-business, pro-growth policies.
A review of last month’s market-moving events across countries and asset classes.
With the US beginning to normalize official short-term interest rates, global monetary policy is becoming less accommodative overall. Meanwhile, the global economy seems poised for its best year of growth since 2010. Explore the factors driving our assessment in the latest global cyclical outlook.
Responsible investing means different things to different people. There are pros and cons to each method of incorporating environmental, social and governance factors into investment portfolios.
The UK’s triggering of Article 50 on March 29 is like firing the starting pistol on the process of leaving the EU – but this race will be slow and tortuous. Here is our view on what investors should expect and how they should prepare.
As interest rates nudge higher, many municipal bond investors worry about the impact on their portfolios. Muni credit, which holds its value better when rates rise, could be the solution.
The proliferation of liquid alternative mutual funds happened in response to the 2008-2009 recession, which was followed by an extended period of unusually low interest rates.
President Trump’s administration wants US multinationals to bring offshore manufacturing and jobs back home. Apple’s iPhone is one example, uncovered by our research, of the complexities involved in dismantling international supply chains.
Peter Chiappinelli, CFA; GMO LLC discusses the common benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the Agg). There’s nothing passive about the Agg, as it’s aggressively been taking on more risk. There are three main reasons for this concern: the simple math of bond duration; the changing composition of the index; and the very logical financing behavior of corporate borrowers.
One of the hottest gifts of the recent holiday season was the Amazon Echo, which offers to ease the lives of customers by directing the system with its famous command “Alexa…” This move toward the automation of a greater percentage of our lives has a parallel in the investing world.
The Fed could contain inflation fears in the bond market by taking a more hawkish stance.
As we enter 2017 and the beginning of the Trump presidency, the US equity bull market is almost eight years old. In fact, the eight years since the “great recession” has been a bull market not just in domestic equities, but in almost every global financial asset class.
Investors tend to think of floating-rate bank loans as an antidote to rising interest rates. It ain’t necessarily so.
Can Mr. Trump perform miracles? How can we indulge in meaningful speculation about the unforecastable? The President-elect does have some relevant experience — running companies with mountains of debt.
Greetings this New Year from our new office facilities in Westborough, MA. We hope you will find time to stop in if you are in the area!
GSAM expects the long post-crisis economic recovery to continue in 2017 and prefers equities over credit and credit over rates. Broadening exposure beyond conventional stocks and bonds, identifying opportunities in emerging markets and deploying more dynamic asset allocation strategies are some ways to adapt.
The Year of the Dynamic ETF With the world digesting the surprising results of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, the team at IndexIQ has turned their thoughts to next year and their top five ETF-focused trends and insights for 2017.
Certain economic concepts have been a source of frustration to investors over the years. The movement of bond prices up or down to bring existing bonds in line with prevailing interest rates would be one example.
Among the highlights in our global cyclical outlook: We expect economic growth to remain moderate this year, but slightly better than 2016, and fiscal stimulus should move into the spotlight.
2016 played host to the unexpected with the U.S. presidential election and Brexit vote. 2017 will bring its own events that could have consequences for global markets.
As the year winds down, our weekly commentaries have reviewed how 2016 forecasts played out, and we do the same this week with a review of fixed income.
The holiday season is here, and so is the deadline for gifting contributions to 529 accounts — an attractive opportunity for those wanting to ease the soaring cost of college for family members.
Donald Trump took the world by surprise in winning the U.S. presidential election.; While the Trump triumph and ensuing policy conjecture held the spotlight, a flurry of positive economic releases globally signaled solid fundamentals.; Risk sentiment built, particularly in the U.S.
It's not unusual for a new year to bring changes. But 2017 may be particularly noteworthy. Topping the list is a new U.S. president and Republican-controlled Congress, bringing the prospect of a new direction for many policies, regulations and legislative priorities. Elections and leadership changes also are on the calendar in several major countries, including France, Germany and China. What may not change next year are the geopolitical tensions that continue to pressure several regions around the globe.
Our base scenario depicts the stable continuation of a US-led global recovery, with modest levels of growth being maintained and no recessionary dip.
Looking for a strong defense against rising US interest rates? Look no further.
Recent losses have caused serious pain to muni investors’ bottom line. Can they overcome the pain? The answer may be yes, and probably pretty quickly. If history is any guide, municipals seem built for recovery.
Like other traditional bond benchmarks, key European investment grade bond indexes have changed dramatically over the last five years.
Chief Investment Officer Steven Vannelli, CFA, hosted a conference call to share the investment team’s analysis of the global equity and fixed income markets one week after the election.
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group® offers its perspective on the global markets. In this Issue: Uncertainty Ahead of Trump Administration but Fundamentals Remain Constructive; Divergence in Monetary Policies Between World’s Leading Central Banks Likely to Remain Intact; and Eurozone Bond Yields Rise but ECB Likely to Adjust Rather Than Signal End of Quantitative Easing
The November 2016 U.S. elections may go down in history as among the most unconventional, leaving many investors wondering about the investment implications.
Franklin Templeton's Asian and European trading desk teams evaluate the aftermath of the US election in a special edition of Notes from the Trading Desk.
The seeming impossible happened as Donald Trump was elected President upsetting the consensus frontrunner Hillary Clinton. So what now?
The transition to a Republican presidency and Trump’s rejection of politics as usual, which drew so many voters, naturally lead to questions about his impact on the economy and markets. Today on our blog we provide a high level overview of our thoughts of the significance of a Trump presidency.
A review of the month’s market-moving events across countries and asset classes.
Both US presidential candidates have provided some details of their economic plans to US voters. But Congress will need to have its say, too. Here are some of the highlights.
Last month lived up to October’s traditional reputation as a difficult one for global stock markets. As political pundits discussed an “October surprise” in the context of the U.S. presidential election, investors were busily reacting to a series of developments that ultimately depressed returns. Stocks were pushed down in part by better-than-expected economic data, which investors viewed as raising the odds the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in December.
While we spend time analyzing each of our individual positions and holdings, when it comes to portfolio management, the whole is very much more than simply the sum of its parts.
Wasatch Advisors has been investing in India for well over a decade. We hope this paper will illuminate why we remain excited about the investment opportunities there.
As we look to the fourth quarter of 2016, we believe broader growth trends should be able to withstand the risks outlined here. While growth is slow, context is important.
In a low-interest-rate environment, what should investors keep in mind? Rick Friedman with GMO LLC explains.
We are now seven years into both an economic recovery and a bull market. Because the 2008 Great Financial Crisis and the subsequent economic recovery were unlike any other since the Great Depression, it makes sense to look back and see from whence we came and to look forward and try to see whether current trends can be sustained.
CCR Wealth Management’s Outlook communication seeks to update our clients on market conditions currently affecting or which may affect asset values and investment performance.
