FICC Focus

Government bonds sold off in the past weeks, due to tariff news from the US and the debt brake being eased soon in Germany and this has increased the probabilities of rate cuts by central banks, including the Fed. Credit rallied through this mayhem and the big question is, will this strength continue? In this episode of our Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Global Head of Credit Stra...

“Even if we hear rumblings that NDAs are out there with third parties and private lenders are looking at assets,... we’re still in a position where — why wouldn’t they come back to us — because we have more to give,” said Patrick McGrath, partner at Anchorage Capital. “If I’ve invested in a structure and I have a group, I can give them more time. That’s valuable. I can address interest rates. I ca...

It’s back to the future in emerging-market debt, and creditors should look to the Cold War when analyzing geopolitical risk in global fixed-income portfolios. Michael Cirami, Managing Director at Artisan Partners and a portfolio manager for EMsights Capital Group, joins Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Emerging Markets Credit Strategist Damian Sassower to discuss his company’s approach to investing ac...

The weakening path recently observed through US survey evidence has yet to be confirmed by a sustained turn in the core economic news flow, but if confirmed, this could entertain a more bearish dollar outlook than envisaged at the start of the year. In this episode of FX Moment, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief G-10 FX strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Valentin Petrescou, senior portfolio manager...

Hybrid capital solutions may aid small and medium enterprise companies confronting balance-sheet challenges amid persistently high borrowing costs. Ari Lefkovits, managing partner at Delos Capital, joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s credit strategists Noel Hebert and Sam Geier on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to discuss trends in private credit markets, and Delos’ advisory and principal in...

A spate of economic and political headlines has traders working harder than usual to assess US indicators for clues on interest rates and property markets. In this episode of the Bloomberg Intelligence Macro Matters Podcast, Lisa Pendergast, president and CEO of CREFC, joins host and BI chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey, senior REIT analyst Jeffrey Langbaum and senior US and Canada rates strate...

Atanas Bostandjiev, founder & CEO of Gemcorp Capital Management, joins BI chief emerging markets fixed-income strategist Damian Sassower to discuss his firm’s approach to engineering performance and mitigating risk in emerging and frontier markets. Securitization expertise is critical when extending private credit to local operators across emerging markets, with heavy focus on principal protection...

There has been a lot of information for the market to digest so far this year and rates volatility has drifted lower with the Fed on hold for now, while elevated US economic policy uncertainty has helped support VIX. In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI’s Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhuis joined byChris Murphy, Co-Head Derivative Strategy atSusquehanna, to di...

Catastrophe bonds offer issuers additional capacity for underwriting risk, while providing investors with a stream of uncorrelated returns. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Noel Hebert and Sam Geier are joined by Tarek Abou Zeid and Andre Rzym, partners and portfolio managers at Man AHL to discuss the growth and adoption of cat bonds. The discussion gets into real-world examples, from Hurricanes An...

Despite economic data once again signaling inflation is on the rise, the future of rate cuts becoming uncertain and an evolving fiscal-policy landscape, there’s much to be optimistic about within the muni market. On this month’s Masters of the Muniverse podcast, hosts and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Eric Kazatsky and Karen Altamirano talk to Tim Coffin, Director of Sustainability at Breckinrid...

If the economy evolves a certain way, the Federal Reserve isn’t far from cutting rates more than the market thinks, says Wellington Management Portfolio Manager Brij Khurana. Khurana joins host and Bloomberg Intelligence Chief US Interest-Rate Strategist Ira Jersey and senior Canada and US rate strategy associate Will Hoffman to discuss the current dynamics and trends across fixed-income markets....

In his 35 years on Wall Street, Moelis’ Global Co-Head of Capital Structure Advisory Bill Derrough hasn’t seen a rescue-financing environment as robust as today, “where we [can] run so many parallel processes at the same time.” As one of the key bankers behind Hertz’s successful bankruptcy auction and American Airlines’ game-changing Chapter 11 exit merger, Bill shares with Bloomberg Intelligence’...

High yield credit had a strong 2024 as yields rallied and spreads followed, while defaults didn’t blow up as feared. In Europe, the index default rate stands at a low 2.5% and the US at 1.1%, while the share of stressed and distressed bonds drastically came down. Will 1Q sustain those gains, and why? Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief European credit strategist, discusses the resul...

The pound may be getting a bounce from the optimism that the UK could dodge President Donald Trump’s tariffs as trade headlines roil global markets, but not all is rosy for the British currency on the domestic cyclical front. In this episode of FX Moment, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief G-10 FX strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Jordan Rochester, head of FICC strategy for EMEA at Mizuho Bank, dis...

Markets may be having to assess more than the normal number of cross currents in the economy right now, with a new US administration, stock volatility and a host of geopolitical developments. On this episode of the Bloomberg Intelligence Macro Matters podcast, host and BI chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey is joined by Frank Rose, president of Chevalier Strategic Advisors, to discuss the primary...

European credit markets have gone through a significant shift in market dynamics over the past five years, as low-interest-rate debt is coming due and traditional sources of financing retreat. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Noel Hebert and Sam Geier are joined by Arini Capital Management CIO and Founder Hamza Lemssouguer on this episode of Credit Crunch to discuss how Arini is capitalizing on str...

It may be a good year for the volatility market as pro-business government policies and elevated equity exposure that drive market overshoots could see high reactivity on the downside. In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI’s Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu gives an update on market volatility and is joined by Catherine Clay, Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe....

As others head for the exit from the commercial real estate (CRE) sector, Benefit Street Partners President Richard Byrne views this as the perfect time to fill the funding void that could arise. Byrne joins hosts Noel Hebert and Sam Geier of Bloomberg Intelligence on Credit Crunch to discuss the budding opportunity in CRE as a result of higher interest rates. The discussion gets into CRE debt vs...

With expectations for future tax cuts softening and muni yields levels remaining attractive, greater buying opportunities may be on the horizon in munis. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Masters of the Muniverse podcast, hosts Eric Kazatsky and Karen Altamirano are joined by Mark Paris, chief investment officer and head of Municipals at Invesco. They discuss why the outlook on muniland...

The two standout risks with the new US administration are tariffs and immigration policy, Kathy Jones, chief fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab, says in the latest episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Macro Matters podcast. Jones is joined by host and BI chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey to discuss the outlook for Treasury markets and the economy. The pair discuss the recent drivers of yi...

CLOs are driving loan supply and in this Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief European Credit Strategist and Desmond English, Head of European Leveraged Loans at Amundi, reflect on how both the US and European leveraged loan markets fared last year and the outlook for loans in 2025. They discuss BI's leveraged loan outlook publication covering loan pricing,...

High-beta asset classes will likely swing on US-centric narratives, but the country’s financial conditions remain supportive despite a less dovish Federal Reserve. Max Kettner, Chief Multi-Asset Strategist at HSBC, joins Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Emerging Markets Credit Strategist Damian Sassower to discuss his investment outlook for 2025, with US equities, high-yield debt and emerging-market c...

“There is one AAA bond that has taken a loss so far in CMBS. There will be plenty more.” Waterfall Asset Management’s Head of ABS Strategy Keerthi Raghavan didn’t mince words in laying out his view of the office real estate market, one of the few corners of the credit universe offering significant distressed opportunities. Raghavan, speaking with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert and Phil Brend...

Incoming pro-growth policy, while inflationary in nature, could result in a strong credit environment in the eyes of PineBridge Investments’ Global Head of Credit, Steven Oh. Oh joins Bloomberg Intelligence corporate credit strategists Noel Hebert and Sam Geier on this episode of Credit Crunch to walk through various macroeconomic pathways. The conversation touches on central-bank policy expectati...

The path of least resistance continues to be cyclically driven dollar-bullish and euro-dollar-bearish views into early 2025, but that’s a narrative that’s priced in, extended and crowded. Host Audrey Childe-Freeman, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief G-10 FX strategist, talks to Constantin Bolz, head of G10 FX for UBS’ Chief Investment Office, about what could trigger a turnaround in the euro-dollar f...