fixed income

ASX listed fixed income ETFs grew strongly in 2018 with $1.3 billion in net inflows, ranking third after International and Australian equity ETFs. The total value of fixed income ETFs is over $5.5 billion across 25 ETFs. Show More

A fixed income investment is a simple interest only loan. It may be made to a government, semi-government authority or company; as such, fixed income investments are often referred to as ‘debt’ investments. An investor agrees to purchase a fixed income asset from an issuer in exchange for interest payments... Show More

Diversifying your bond allocation to reach global markets can potentially accelerate returns by adding a layer of currency risk. As evidenced in 2018 – Australian investors with exposure to global high grade bonds ($USD) would have achieved double digit returns on an unhedged basis, in a year of low to... Show More

Until recently it has been hard for advisers and direct investors to gain exposure to investments in Australian corporate loans. The asset class offers diversification and income; however, access has traditionally been limited to wholesale investors and institutions. Show More

International and domestic economic indicators have turned negative in recent months. Major central banks responded to this and the weak financial markets in late 2018. In fact, policy makers pivoted from “tough love” talk to hints of investor friendly intentions. The central bank “put”(1) lives. Global markets rebounded as a... Show More

This is a question that’s currently very relevant for corporate bond investors, particularly in the ‘safe’ investment grade (IG) sector. Since the 2008 financial crisis, corporate bond markets have been in a real sweet spot. On one side they’ve seen huge capital inflows from yield chasing investors and on the... Show More

Perhaps simply ‘queasiness’ is more fitting. Certainly that’s an apt feeling among investors having stomached sharp falls in risk asset prices in the last quarter of 2018, again bringing into focus the question of asset allocation as investors consider the path ahead. While many of the surprise falls reversed, at... Show More

Vimal Gor, Head of Bond, Income and Defensive Strategies at Pendal Group, says there’s just one fundamental driver of all asset prices. That driver is liquidity and Gor says that the current investment backdrop makes him feel the most bearish he's been in 2 years. Show More

Livewire recently got in touch with us to tell the story of 2018 in one chart, and how it is instructive going into 2019. Our choice, the 3 Month US Treasury Bill Yield. Show More

Lately, we’ve been on edge with domestic and global corrections happening. Here are four defensive assets to further guard your portfolio against impact. Show More

As we look forward to 2019, we see further divergence of what the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will be doing relative to other central banks in terms of tightening the various forms of monetary policy that have been employed over the last decade. The Fed will continue to tighten monetary... Show More

The typical Australian investment portfolio is largely split between cash/government bonds and equities, with a strong domestic focus. Safety and familiarity are the appeals here. Focusing on these two extreme ends of the investment spectrum has worked beautifully well over recent decades. Both equities and cash/government bonds provided returns comfortably... Show More

We sat down with Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income & Multi-Asset at Schroders, and asked him how he would allocate a million dollars today. In his responses to this tough question he made it clear that it’s not a good time to be building a big position in equities. Show More

Overnight falls of 3.2% for the DOW (3.30% for S&P, 4.40% NASDAQ) are reminiscent of January-February 2018, and just like then it feels very unpleasant. However as always perspective is required when trying to ascertain whether this is a transitionary correction or the start of something more sinister. Show More

The US Federal Reserve (the Fed) lifted interest rates to 2.25% as was widely expected in September and commented that monetary policy is no longer ‘accommodative’. Show More

Chris Rands, Portfolio Manager at Nikko Asset Management, believes that rates are unlikely to rise significantly from current levels. With debt at very high levels across the world, servicing that debt would raise major challenges, which could steady the hand of central bankers. Show More

When looking for potential problems in a company, the first place to look is the balance sheet. Amit Lodha, Portfolio Manager at the Fidelity Global Equities Fund, says that when looking for problems in the equity markets, investors should watch the markets’ ‘balance sheet’ – fixed income markets. Show More

This time last year, at Livewire Live we flagged a likely resurgence of volatility and highlighted some of the factors that we believed would drive this. In this exclusive report for Livewire, I review the thesis and explain why we expect much more extreme reactions going forward. Show More

Stuart Dear, Deputy Head of Fixed Income at Schroders, believes that value in bonds has improved in both absolute and relative terms. The yields on offer in US 10-year government bonds have risen from a low of ~1.50% to current levels closer to 3%. This move has happened at a... Show More

Over the past decade, the value of the investment grade (IG) corporate bond market has nearly doubled, from USD4.8 trillion in June 2008 to USD9.3 trillion today. Interestingly, the weighting of BBB rated bonds in the IG market has risen at an even quicker pace. Over the same period, issues... Show More