The US Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) message on inflation is clear: Higher domestic inflation is likely in the period ahead, but it should be “temporary” in nature. This begs several questions, among them: What exactly does “temporary” mean? Which price increases, if any, could be longer lasting? And if higher inflation proves to be “stickier” than anticipated, how should investors position their portfolios?

The Fed’s latest forecast is for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to rise to 2.6% this year (which it already hit in March), before settling back down to just over 2% in 2022 and 2023. Likewise, market expectations (as observed in recent “breakeven” inflation rates) are for US inflation to pick up in the near term and then come down longer term. Yet I am hearing from some of my analyst colleagues that many areas of the economy are facing stubborn supply shortages and upward price pressures, including freight, semiconductors, housing, raw materials, and labor.

Thus, in my view, the risk is that higher inflation may have a longer-than-expected “tail” before…

As discussed in my latest white paper, An allocator’s agenda for a reflating world, I’m concerned that many asset allocators seem to remain stubbornly positioned for a world of falling bond yields, declining inflation, and low economic growth. In my view, this is largely due to what I call a persistent “status-quo bias,” rather than much in the way of active positioning for the realities of today’s evolving global landscape.

As a result, I believe many clients have portfolio positioning that is ill-equipped to successfully navigate the potentially reflationary period ahead. The remedy? While I certainly don’t recommend a wholesale shift to all “reflationary” assets, I think one important item on every allocator’s “to-do” list should be…

The recent flurry of US sanctions leveled against Russia has aggravated frictions between the two nations and cast a long shadow of doubt on the Russian equity market.

Russian President Vladmir Putin more or less forced US President Biden’s hand when he deployed an EU-estimated 150,000 troops to the Ukrainian border. However, pressure had already been mounting for the US to get tougher on Russia following the country’s unprecedented SolarWinds hacking operation and its largely unsuccessful attempts to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election.

The “new normal” for US-Russia relations

Based on these troubling incidents, it seems we have entered a “new normal” in US-Russia relations and should expect risk premiums in Russia’s equity market to…

The forex (FX) ¹ market volatility experienced amid the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 has not entirely dissipated through the first four months of 2021. An improving economic backdrop, along with recent rises in US inflation expectations and interest rates, have somewhat altered global currency dynamics. Here are the latest views from members of our global fixed income platform.

At a high level

As of this writing, we continue to see the most attractive global currency opportunities in non-dollar crosses. ² Supply bottlenecks worldwide and pent-up consumer demand will likely support developed market (DM) trade and commodity-linked DM currencies, while continued US economic outperformance and concurrent higher US yields could pressure select high-beta currencies in the…

The Wellington Global Cycle Index¹ points to an upturn in global economic activity but, in my view, even that positive prognosis is underestimating the bounce that’s ahead. Over the next six months, I predict that growth numbers almost everywhere will be exceptionally strong.

Where we differ from consensus

Almost all analysts now have the same broad roadmap for 2021 as we have — strong growth, with a gradual rise in inflation through the second half of 2021. All list the same set of risks: upside risks are attached to a full household-savings unwind and another round of fiscal support, while downside risks are attached to public health. All assume US growth leadership. What is striking is how there is actually very little discussion of inflation.

As economies reopen, it will be difficult for the market to distinguish between…

Over the past few years, easy monetary policy worldwide hasn’t been enough to fully revive global economic growth. It has, however, helped to catalyze a strong equity rally, concentrated in a fairly small number of stocks — many of them technology and e-commerce businesses — that have been able to consistently “outgrow” the sluggish global economy. This rally has been aided by the advent of growth-focused ETFs, index funds, and smart beta products, along with (more recently) the US day-trading phenomenon that has accelerated amid COVID-19.

But we think the world is starting to change. Driven by unprecedented levels of monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to COVID-19, the economic growth outlook is improving. Commodity and interest-rate markets are grappling with…

With front-end US interest rates flirting with the zero mark recently, the question of how to manage cash investments in a world of ultralow or even negative yields has been top of mind these days. So I’d like to share my latest thoughts, from an investment treasurer’s standpoint, on how investors with cash positions might navigate this challenging landscape.

Nothing special about ultralow or negative rates

The decline in yields over the past year or so has had a meaningful impact on the search for incremental alpha, particularly in the cash and short-duration space. Many institutional clients need or want to put languishing cash balances to work in an effort to…

Since January 2021, many investors have come around to the view that the US appears poised for a strong rebound in economic growth, driven by fiscal stimulus, vaccine administration, and economic reopenings. Meanwhile, bottlenecks in global supply chains have made it more challenging to meet increased demand for goods and services, causing input costs to rise across a number of industries.

Taken together, these developments have led to mounting inflation expectations and upward movements in interest rates. Year to date through 12 April 2021, the 10-year US Treasury yield has risen 75 basis points (bps) to 1.67%. The spread between the fed funds rate and the US 10-year Treasury note, a general proxy for yield-curve steepness, is also up meaningfully.

I believe the risk of further rises in inflation expectations and interest rates is not yet fully priced into markets. There are steps fixed income investors can take now to manage this growing risk to their portfolios. One way to do so may be via allocations to higher-income, shorter-duration assets such as floating-rate loans (FRLs).

The “duration rotation” is underway

In today’s low-yield world, a steepening yield curve can have a material negative impact on…