FICC Focus

Credit markets saw stupendous growth in socially responsible and green bonds from a variety of credits and many sustainability and ESG specialized funds and investment vehicles have taken off in the past four years.In this episode of our Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Chief European Credit Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Mitch Reznick, Head of Sustainable Fixed Income at Federated Hermes Limited, discuss the shades of sustainable bond and fund types: Sustainability, ESG, SRI, Green, GSS among others and differentiate them and address their performance and alpha vs. mainstream credit. They also discuss flows into such funds and supply of these securities in comparison to mainstream. Lastly, they discuss the various relevant global regulations, including stewardship.

In this podcast, the hosts discuss the recently announced plan for a larger BRICS group and its potential impact on de-dollarization. They explore the economic and political aspects behind the BRICS extension and its limited impact on the dollar dominance. The podcast also discusses the challenges of creating a single currency or monetary union within the BRICS countries and the current dominance of the dollar in the international monetary system.

Money has been leaking out of municipal mutual funds this year, but the same can’t be said for alternative products, such as exchange traded funds, though there’s been some recent cooling, especially in separately managed account platforms, an area we’ve spent much time exploring this year on Masters of the Muniverse. In this episode of the podcast, Andrew Clinton, CEO and founder of Clinton Investment Management, sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Kazatsky and Karen Altamirano for an in-depth discussion about the muni market, recession expectations, his feelings post-Jackson Hole and the outlook for 4Q.

The keys to evaluating structured credit are “the value of the assets, the value of the structure and the value of the option,” according to Brett Jefferson, founder, president and co-CIO of Hildene Capital, with $14 billion in assets under management. Jefferson and co-CIO Dushyant Mehra join Noel Hebert, Bloomberg Intelligence’s director of FICC research, and Sam Geier, senior credit strategy associate, on this Credit Crunch episode, part of the FICC Focus podcast series for an in-depth discussion on the value in TruPs, identifying the fulcrum in CLOs, mortgage-backed products and the benefits of diversification.

The Treasury market selloff throughout August was in part due to increased issuance, but largely driven by the market repricing the future path of monetary policy, TD Securities USA’s Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Gennadiy Goldberg says on this Macro Matters podcast episode hosted by Bloomberg Intelligence’s Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey. Goldberg discusses his views on the Treasury market, the future of global monetary-policy actions and investor expectations for the economy. In this week’s Interest Rate Intro segment, US Interest Rate Strategy associate Will Hoffman asks Jersey about the BI Rates team’s recent research note, which highlighted what may come next for technical yield levels.

Credit markets have had a correction in the past month, across the board. It takes us to an interesting juncture where we ask if the correction has longer to go or is largely done, and which asset classes stand to benefit most in its aftermath.In this episode of our Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Chief European Credit Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Boris Okuliar, Co-Head of Global Liquid Credit at Ares Management, discuss the situation in global credit and the challenges of directional view after this correction. They discuss rates, yields, credit spreads and supply in detail. There's a particular focus on leveraged loans, high yield bonds, the impact of the CLO market and private lending.

In our latest FX Moment podcast, host Audrey Childe-Freeman, Bloomberg Intelligence chief G10 FX Strategist and Maeva Cousin, senior euro area economist at Bloomberg Economics, look into the euro and US near-term growth dynamics and how these may shape BI's euro-dollar outlook into year-end. We also touch on the euro-inflation outlook and European Central Bank's rate prospects for 2023 and 2024.For now, our positive euro-dollar relative growth differential outlook holds, but recent euro data have underwhelmed while US data have tended to overwhelm. The euro price action has been resilient thus far, though our strategists conclude this is no time for complacency.

Latin America central banks continue to focus on inflation, yet fiscal deficits remain elevated and growth is in decline. In this month’s EM Lens & Look-Through podcast episode, Fernando Losada, Managing Director and Head of Latin America Sovereign Research at Oppenheimer, joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Chief EM Fixed Income Strategist Damian Sassower to deliver his outlook on Latin American debt markets, with a focus on Central America and the Caribbean. From tourist inflows and remittances to oil imports and climate change, we discuss the economic and fundamental risks that have the potential to affect fixed-income valuations.

Spreads of mortgage-backed securities may remain wide, though net and gross supply could remain depressed given interest rate and housing market dynamics, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Chief MBS Strategist Erica Adelberg says. Adelberg joins Macro Matters podcast host and BI’s Chief US Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey to share her view on relative value within the mortgage markets, compare MBS to corporate bonds and discuss how recent bank regulations may affect mortgage demand. You can access more of Adelberg’s research on the BI Mortgages Dashboard by typing {BI MORTN <GO>}.

The red-hot credit rally leaves debt markets vulnerable ahead of historically-worst months, Bloomberg Intelligence Global Credit Strategy head Noel Hebert, distressed credit analyst Philip Brendel and bankruptcy litigation analyst Negisa Balluku say on this month’s edition of the State of Distressed Debt podcast. Guest Ralph Brubaker, the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, joins Balluku for an in-depth feature interview on corporate tortfeasors’ persistent efforts to exploit Chapter 11 protections (6:50). Hebert, Balluku and Brendel wrap up the episode with the latest developments for Johnson & Johnson, Cineworld, Crypto and Diamond Sports (50:20).Related research:Ralph Brubaker, The Texas Two-Step and Mandatory Non-Opt-Out Settlement Powers (July 2022)Amici Curiae Brief of Bankruptcy Law Professors Ralph Brubaker, George W. Kuney, and Bruce A. Markell, In re Purdue Pharma (Mar. 2022)