KORP News and Press, American Century Diversified Corporate Bond From 08/01/22

Bonds went south in 2022 - all asset classes were negative, and investors received little benefit from international or non-US allocations (including EMs). As of June 30, according to Bloomberg data, EM credits were the worst-performing bond asset class YTD, returning -17.14%. The US ...

In the second quarter, we've seen double-digit negative returns across the fixed income landscape. For corporate bonds on the investment-grade side of things, we've seen spreads tick 160. A lot of what's going on right now is just the aftermath of a pandemic that's disrupted the h...

Market views of Fed rate hikes have swung sharply. We see more volatility ahead as long as central banks think they can curb inflation without crushing growth. Yields spiked before easing after the ECB raised rates by 0.5% last week. We expect it to pause hikes before the Fed as the e...

The current shape of the yield curve really does look like the bond market expects a recession to show up in the not-too-distant future. The compression in longer-dated maturities has been having a mostly positive effect on the stock market this week, particularly the growth-oriented ...

Despite increased market volatility in 2022, the investment grade credit market is healthy and functioning. Even after adjusting for the growth of the corporate bond market, trading volumes in 2022 are only slightly below the average for the prior five years. While new issue conce...

The global economy and financial markets have suffered a dreadful H1 2022, ravaged by a severe commodity shock, strict COVID-19 lockdowns in the world’s second-largest economy, and one of the most aggressive Fed tightening cycles in recent history. H2 looks equally tough. In it...

Based on monetary trends and the early reaction in the economy, we anticipate a slowing growth environment in the U.S., with rising recession risk that depends on the extent of frontloaded Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Following the initial COVID shock in 2020, investment grade...

Last quarter, the Asset Allocation Committee adopted an underweight view on global equities and leaned more heavily into cash, commodities and other alternative, diversifying assets. The Committee’s views on real and alternative assets are unchanged this quarter. The Asset ...

Strong economic growth in 2021 and a healthy demand environment entering 2022 served as catalysts for companies to allocate high cash balances toward capital expenditures, share repurchases, and M&A. Share repurchases increased considerably, given significant equity drawdowns this...

Investors see further Fed rate rises, but believe they will start moderating in size after September. Investors continue to see some risks to credit markets, with views that fundamentals will deteriorate and spreads will generally widen somewhat. There is uncertainty around when a...