Tag Archives: fixed income
Good Things Come in Threes: Muni Bonds Appear Ripe for 2023
With one month down in 2023, let’s track the performance of municipal bonds so far: as of Jan. 31, 2023, the yield for the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index was at roughly 3% (3.02% to be exact). The total return was up about 3% for January (2.87% to be exact), putting a dent in…
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Record CDS Index Volumes As We Head into the 20-Year Anniversary of iTraxx and CDX
This blog was co-authored by Srichandra Masabathula and Nicholas Godec In 2022, volumes in CDX and iTraxx reached an all-time high of nearly USD 36 trillion—a 43% year-over-year increase. Such record-breaking volumes occurred as we fast approach the 20-year anniversary of the indices—CDX and iTraxx will roll into Series 40 in March and September 2023,…
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Safe Harbors and Silver Linings
As we reflect on this year’s notable market themes, one trend is certain: it has been a tumultuous market characterized by rate hikes and inflation concerns across regions, with significant losses across asset classes. Crypto market performance added to jitters, with the S&P Cryptocurrency LargeCap Index down 66% YTD. Losses throughout the year culminated in…
- Categories Equities, Fixed Income, S&P 500 & DJIA
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- Equities, Fixed Income, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Paying Dividends: Measuring Rising Income against Declining Risks in the iBoxx Fixed Income Indices
With the ZIRP world1 firmly in the rear view, the “income” in fixed income is back. As yields collapsed to record lows, income-starved investors sought alternative sources of income such as dividend strategies, which attracted record flows in related products throughout 2022. Now, with investment grade bond yields hitting as high as 6%, bonds are…
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Examining the Effectiveness of Defensive Strategy Indices
What does history have to say about the effectiveness of factor indices as defensive tools? S&P DJI’s Craig Lazzara explores defense beyond bonds and how defensive factors influence risk/return in different market environments.
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Tip of the Iceberg: Fixed Income ETFs in Times of Crisis
20 and 15 years after the launches of the first ETFs based on the iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade (IG) Index and iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield (HY) Index, respectively, ETFs are increasingly used to trade fixed income without the necessity of transacting individual bonds. The tradability of bond ETFs has been leveraged by a…
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U.K. Bond Market: Insights from the Recent Downturn
The past few weeks have been extraordinary as U.K. politics and financial markets entangled, resulting in GBP-denominated debt becoming both shaken and stirred. Gilts, bonds issued by the U.K. government, were hit particularly hard on the back of collateral calls in the liability-driven investment pension crisis. Gilts saw their yields reach multi-year highs, especially in…
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Amid the Energy Rally, Tracking ESG Bond Index Performance
Year-to-date, global stock and bond market returns have been mired in red. The picture has been consistent across the various bond and equity sectors, except for Energy and Utilities stocks, posting YTD returns of 48.8% and 5.5%, respectively. Before this Energy rally, the iBoxx MSCI ESG Advanced USD Liquid Investment Grade (IG) Index was launched…
- Categories ESG, Fixed Income
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- ESG, Fixed Income
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How to Bring Paris Agreement Goals to Fixed Income Indices
This blog was co-authored by Smadar Shulman and Paulina Lichwa-Garcia. As the transition to net zero is becoming a critical consideration in portfolio management, the popularity of indices that incorporate the EU’s minimum standards for Climate Transition Benchmarks (CTBs) and Paris-aligned Benchmarks (PABs) has been gathering pace. Such benchmarks aim to select securities that are collectively…
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Bringing Transparency to Green Bonds
As the global green bond market continues to grow, how are indices helping investors assess greenium and the potential opportunity set? S&P DJI’s Brian Luke joins VanEck’s Bill Sokol and Phil Kirouac for a closer look at how indexing works for green bonds.
- Categories ESG, Fixed Income
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