SUSC News and Press, iShares ESG USD Corporate Bond ETF From 01/03/23

Summary A historic 2022 taught us to widen the lens of possible scenarios, factor in geopolitical risk and use a new playbook for more frequent portfolio changes. Global stocks ended the year down 18%, while bonds fell 16%. This marked the biggest market storm in decades amid inflation ...

Summary The Fed’s interest rate and liquidity tools are blunt instruments, particularly in a service-oriented economy. If inflation indeed moderates from here, it is likely that interest rate volatility moderates alongside it. Monetary policy has created the asset-on/asset-of...

Summary An all-time low in interest rates was reached when the Fed cut the fed funds rate to approximately zero in late 2008 in an effort to pull the economy out of the GFC. The Fed deemed the inflation “transitory,” it continued its policies of low-interest rates and quan...

Summary 1 or more years of additional interest-rate duration in ‘23 vs. ‘22, to be grown over time: As central banks slow, or pause, their tightening cycles, in sympathy with slowing economic growth and inflation. 6% to 6.5% of portfolio carry potential (including anticipa...

Summary As we enter 2023, bottom-up fundamental research is going to be critical as we go through this environment. So economic growth in '23 is pretty uncertain in some regions, maybe a little bit more certain in others. I think energy transition is something which is going to cont...

Summary Recession is foretold, in our view, as central banks crush demand to bring down inflation. We think markets are wrong to expect them to later come to the rescue. U.S. stocks fell and the Treasury yield curve inverted its most since the early 1980s. We see recent moves as reflect...

Summary Today, the yield curve is more inverted than at any time since the early 1980s, so many are saying that means the chances of a recession are pretty high. Yes, today the curve is very inverted, but real yields are not particularly high. Low spreads suggest the market is relat...

Summary With yield levels surging across the asset class spectrum, one could conclude that a semblance of ‘normalcy’ has returned to the fixed income arena. As we are about to embark on a new calendar year, the fixed income landscape has changed dramatically. From an i...

Summary U.S. investment grade and high yield spreads have been very resilient this year. We do not expect dramatic spread widening unless or until we actually see underlying credit conditions deteriorate. When we consider the paths that the Fed can take, we want to continue to...

Summary A significant increase in both interest rates and credit spreads has made for a difficult year for investment grade bond investors. Focusing on high excess spread does not simply mean selecting bonds with the highest yield. Investing in the top 40% of bonds by excess s...