Fixed Income

Data published by the Bank of England (BoE) on Friday shows an interesting trend in consumers’ approach to interest rates.

As fixed income investors, our focus is on how the shock ripples through the variables that matter most for bonds: inflation, growth, and how central banks respond.

Despite the oil price hanging on every word from the White House and volatility in everything from equities to government bonds, we saw a record day for US corporate bond supply on Tuesday led by a blockbuster deal from Amazon.

Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLO) markets have repriced meaningfully over the past few weeks, with a sell-off in software-related loans leading to even more spread “tiering” as investors differentiate between managers with lower exposure to stressed sectors and those carrying more tail risk.

As the US-Israeli military operation in Iran enters its fourth day, markets are continuing to react to rhetoric from both sides and attempting to gauge how long the conflict may last and what the impact will be on the local and global economies.

We have had an eventful few weeks of AI-driven volatility in markets, with markets seemingly swinging from “everyone’s a winner” to “everyone’s a loser” faster than technological progress itself.

With most European banks having now reported their full-year 2025 results, we see the sector carrying solid momentum into 2026.

Market focus has shifted in recent weeks from hyperscaler spending to the threat AI could pose to numerous software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses.

Issuers in corporate credit have started this year on the front foot, capitalising on the current supportive market conditions and front loading their funding plans in anticipation of higher funding needs from the hyperscalers in the US, among other factors.

Oracle returned to the bond market yesterday, just five months after its $18 billion September jumbo deal, finally removing the cloud of uncertainty around supply that has hung over the credit.

Foreign exchange markets have taken centre stage again in recent weeks. President Trump’s apparent indifference to the relatively steep dollar depreciation trend of late has raised a few eyebrows and added fuel to the dollar fire.

2026 is already shaping up to be another volatile year for geopolitics, economies and markets. But one pocket stands out as a key beneficiary of the present backdrop.