TwentyFour

European ABS and CLOs had a turbulent Q2 as broader macro headwinds sparked heavy selling, but investors have made good use of direct trading to pick up bonds at prices not seen since Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

Political chaos is once again taking the headlines in the UK, but bond investors should be cheering the UK regulator’s decision to raise banks’ capital buffers in preparation for an anticipated economic downturn, says Gary Kirk.

With investors seemingly unwilling to put money to work until they see clear evidence of the inflation trend reversing, Felipe Villarroel looks at two developments that tentatively suggest central banks’ delicate balancing act is actually working.

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.

The US high yield market has experienced the third lightest month in terms of new issue flows since the Global Financial Crisis. Chris Holman explains what this means for default rates going into the second half of the year.

Aza Teeuwen explains how market moves have impacted BB CLOs and looks at historic trends analysing their behaviour during crisis scenarios.

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.

With Fed rate hikes continuing and the economy progressing into late cycle stages, Mark Holman presents his expectations from the Fed going into the second half of the year and explains why he believes Treasuries can provide the protection investors may need.

For all of these observations, there is one common observation – yields did not stay at these high levels for very long.

After two COVID-hit years last week the European ABS market decamped once again to Barcelona for the 26th annual AFME & IMN Global ABS conference.

In fast-moving markets there is no perfect time to provide an update on valuations.

After 18 months of difficult headlines Credit Suisse could ill afford more negative press, and we therefore welcomed its decision to refinance its 7.125% Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bond last week at its first call date.