Fixed Income

US investment grade (IG) borrowers printed close to $150bn in August, surpassing the $136bn record set in August 2020 and making this the third consecutive month to set an all-time high after June and July. Against a seasonal average of roughly $95bn since 2019, that is about 50% above the norm despite the August holiday season being in full swing.

A series of recent developments has put US life insurers with significant private-credit linkages under greater regulatory and investor scrutiny. While we believe this could create pressure for some US names, we see limited evidence that the concerns are spilling over into European life insurers.

The US Treasury Department surprised markets yesterday afternoon by announcing an increase in its buyback operations, which will “at least double” to $4bn, from 9 September to 4 November.

The last couple of weeks have been busy on the GDP front with a few countries reporting Q2 growth numbers.

As we approach the end of the reporting season for European financials, including banks and insurers, Q2 2026 has proven to be another strong quarter, with most reported earnings coming in ahead of consensus and several banks upgrading their already ambitious profitability guidance for the year.

Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh hosted his second Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting this week, with most people, including ourselves, expecting a hawkish hold.

Data centres are becoming increasingly important in credit markets, as accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and continued growth in demand for cloud solutions drive significant capital expenditure (capex) needs.

TwentyFour Asset Management (TwentyFour) has been recognised with two industry awards.

The TwentyFour Multi-Asset Credit (MAC) strategy aims to maximise returns by allocating to a broad range of sectors across the global credit markets and dynamically targeting what it considers the optimum mix of credit assets as economic conditions change across the market cycle.

The European Commission (EC) published a Communication last week on the competitiveness of the European Union (EU) banking sector and the single market in banking, setting out an agenda to reduce national fragmentation and simplify prudential, resolution and reporting requirements.

Credit assets generally performed well in the first of half of 2026, despite periodic volatility driven by the Iran war and concerns about AI disruption and private credit.

US consumer price index (CPI) inflation eased more than expected in June, reducing the probability of a hike at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later this month.