FICC Focus

The quantity of reserves is now determined by the amount necessary to run the payment system, says Darrell Duffie, a professor at Stanford University. On the Macro Matters podcast, Duffie joins hosts Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief US rates strategist, and Will Hoffman, BI’s US and Canada rates strategist, to discuss the Federal Reserve’s policy implementation framework. They cover ongo...

“Time can be a good thing. Time can be a very bad thing…I think the whole market moves a bit slower now when there are problems in terms of how those problems get dealt with,” says Axar Capital founder & CEO Andrew Axelrod when discussing the evolution in markets away from mark-to-market investment vehicles. Axelrod joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch...

The 2026 dollar bear view is at the mercy of confirmed Fed dovishness, with the different stages of respective G10 monetary policy cycles likely to shape currency performances this year. If this is your central working assumption, then the case for dollar-yen downside becomes more compelling again, as does our Australian dollar bullish bias. In this episode of FX Moment, Bloomberg Intelligence Chi...

The Conference Board isn’t expecting a recession, but Yelena Shulyatyeva, the research group’s senior US economist, anticipates a meaningful slowdown in consumer spending. On this Macro Matters podcast, Shulyatyeva joins host Ira Jersey, BI’s chief US rates strategist, and BI senior US and Canada rates strategist Will Hoffman to discuss the outlook for the US economy and its drivers in 2026. They...

EM local government bond valuations look less appealing as we enter 2026, with cross-asset volatility poised to rise from historically low levels. Phoenix Kalen, global head of emerging market research at Société Générale, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed income strategist, to discuss her year-ahead outlook for EM local rates and foreign exchange. Kalen and Sassower d...

“All alpha is excess return, not all excess return is alpha,” says NISA CEO and Head of Investment Strategies David Eichhorn when discussing the use of appropriate benchmarks to measure performance and beta masking as alpha. Eichhorn joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch to talk about hedging liabilities and utilizing derivative overlays, targeting high...

As part of Bloomberg Intelligence’s 2026 Fixed Income Markets Outlook: Opportunity Amid Policy Uncertainty event, this panel examines the outlook for junk bond yields and total returns, consumer health, the role of private credit and top sector picks. Stephen Flynn, senior telecom and media credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, moderates a discussion with Winnie Cisar, global head of strategy...

This special edition of the FICC Focus podcast features the recording of a Dec. 4 panel discussion exploring investment grade spreads, issuance and strategies to outperform in the year ahead. Moderated by Rob Schiffman, senior technology and internet credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, the conversation features Meghan Graper, global head of debt capital markets at Barclays, Amanda Lynam, hea...

“Ad hoc groups are decades old at this point. Co-ops are new. Since when do we have to promise to be friends? I think [co-ops] are inherently lame.” John Sobolewski, Partner and Global Chair of Latham & Watkins' Liability Management Practice, sat down with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Negisa Balluku and Philip Brendel at the Beard Group’s 2025 Distressed Investing Conference on Dec. 2. John shared his...

“There’s some articles out there that [suggest] once there’s losses, there could be a bunch of fire sales of assets ... not true,” says KKR Partner and Global Head of Private Credit Daniel Pietrzak when discussing misunderstandings about private credit markets. “We’ve got $131 billion of AUM. Almost none of that has any redemption feature.” Pietrzak joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on th...

Event risk is poised to increase across the emerging-market fixed income landscape, as creditors must contend with elections in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Israel and Peru. Elina Theodorakopoulou, managing director and EM portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed income strategist, to decompose year-to-date performance...

US commercial real estate is set to keep stabilizing in 2026 as liquidity improves and capitalization rates decline. Harbor Group International President Richard Litton joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief fixed-income strategist, Damian Sassower, to discuss his company’s approach to asset management amid an affordability crunch that shows no sign of abating in the year ahead. Litton and Sassower...

Global credit markets are tight, and strategic insights are essential looking into 2026. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence's global head of credit strategy, hosts BI's global credit strategy team to highlight worldwide research, data and views. Tim Tan and Jason Lee (Asia), Basel Al-Waqayan (Middle East), Reto Bachmann (Structured Finance), hi...

The Fed and yield-driven bearish US dollar view remains our central working assumption into 2026, yet this could be a bumpy run depending on how US economic and inflation data evolve throughout the year. Beyond the dollar outlook, we touch on a compelling bullish Aussie view, look into the Hungarian forint appeal, as well as expected yuan and Malaysia ringgit outperformance in Asia FX. In Latam FX...

“You’re in the realm of the antitrust principles and the vapors that come off the big antitrust cases. I was very skeptical of the idea of a single company’s debt instrument … being a product market,” says Jennifer Selendy, founding partner of Selendy Gay, discussing how the latest legal challenges in Altice and Selecta to creditor cooperation agreements in the liability management sector stand on...

The Federal Reserve may cut its benchmark rate below 3% next year, bull steepening the yield curve beyond what’s priced into forwards, says Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence chief US rates strategist. Jersey is joined by BI US and Canada rates strategist Will Hoffman on this episode of the Macro Matters podcast to discuss the BI Rates team’s recently released 2026 US Treasury Market Outlook. The...

Credit is tight and entering 2026 in uncertain times. Bloomberg’s London Credit Outlook event addressed this theme in depth and was recorded for this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast. Host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of credit strategy, was a panelist on the macro panel, along with Iain Stealey, International CIO Global Fixed Income, JPMorgan Asset Management and A...

“If there are things in your business that need to get done, but they’re pretty low risk, this is a great place to start because it has a very attractive risk-reward payout,” says Rob Slater, CEO and founder of Cognitive Credit, reflecting on one of the two areas where AI makes the most sense to deploy. “If you do an AI experiment and it doesn’t really work, you’re not really any worse off.” Slate...

Policy rates will likely be cut three times in 2026, with the 10-year yield between 4-4.5%, says Stephen Dover, chief market strategist at Franklin Templeton. Dover is joined by BI chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey and senior US and Canada rates strategy associate Will Hoffman to discuss global fixed-income markets and cross-asset relative value. The trio discuss the economic outlook for 2026 a...

“Everyone we compete with, other CEOs of asset managers, credit asset managers that I talk to, are hyper-focused on making sure that there's not another cockroach running around in their portfolio,” says Steve Ketchum, CEO and founder of Sound Point Capital, when reflecting on the potential positive side effects of recent high-visibility credit events. Ketchum joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel H...

Credit is tight, though it’s fared better in 2025 than rates and equities through many crises across the globe — France, tariffs, Fed concerns and Britain’s doubtful fiscal health. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of credit strategy, showcases the Credit Clubs in Milan, Madrid and (upcoming) in London. He discusses these cr...

“The uptake among public companies actually is the biggest evolution in the field, because public companies are beginning to recognize the value of this asset class,” says Ranesh Ramanathan, partner and co-head of the Global Capital Solutions Practice for Akin, discussing capital solutions as a financing alternative. Ramanathan joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on this episode of the Cred...

“It may or may not be good ... or binding precedent, but I think ConvergeOne will actually make the holdout risk worse because the minority lenders will now point to it and say ‘Sorry pal, you can’t jam this down my throat in court, so you’re not jamming it down my throat out of court either,’” says Houlihan Lokey Managing Director Tuck Hardie. He joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert and Phi...

Secular AI themes, product development in the volatility ecosystem and fault lines in the economy, as well as navigating volatility in digital assets, are among the key discussion points in this edition of the All Options Considered, featuring part II of the recording of the Bloomberg Volatility Forum 2025 held in NYC on Oct. 28. It starts with the fireside chat on digital assets by Randy Little, ...

The UK fiscal predicament will likely keep sterling under pressure heading into the Nov. 26 budget. The view is starting to look crowded, and recent moves appear stretched, but any upside is set to be contained until the fiscal path clears. For now, sterling bulls might have to settle for some consolidation ahead of the budget and/or renewed dollar weakness, which isn’t in sight yet. In this episo...