What's in the News... Market volatility and the continued rise in interest rates have advisors sticking to allocations driven by active management. 83% of US based financial advisors said they believe the current market environment is likely favorable for active portfolio management, as published by Natixis Investment Management last week. Those... Read more »

Did You Know… That LIBOR, the benchmark that underpins over $350 trillion in securities, is scheduled to end in 2021? The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which has served as the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing LIBOR, has been on a quest to ensure that contributing banks do not leave prior to 2021 before transitions to new benchmarks... Read more »

What's in the News... With five interest rate hikes since the end of 2015, the expectation has been for a much higher 10 year Treasury yield. Yet while the Fed controls the short end of the curve, supply and demand move the longer end of the curve. With this in mind, Informa financial intelligence Chief Macro Strategist David Ader argues that two... Read more »

Did You Know... The amount bond holders can recover once a bond has defaulted can vary? Typically, the recovered amount is less than par. And because the bankruptcy process can be drawn out, investors could find themselves stuck with non-interest bearing investments for an unknown period of time. To gauge default risks, credit ratings are often... Read more »

What's in the news... Recent political, economic, and market volatility continues to keep everyone on their toes. After climbing to 2.95% on February 21, the 10 year Treasury dipped to 2.73% last week before settling at about 2.78% [1]. With the Fed continuing rate hikes and unwinding of QE, recent tax cuts, an implied increase in government... Read more »

Did you know... In the quest for higher yields tax implications are an important consideration. With that in mind, investors often turn to municipal bonds as a tax free, bond alternative with higher yields. But are tax free muni’s the best route to take when looking for higher conservative yield? With new 2018 tax laws, we thought it would be... Read more »

Did you know... Generally speaking, when interest rates rise, bond prices decrease. For total return investors this may not be ideal, but as income investors we think it’s time to get excited about rising interest rates. Coupon income is a significant contributor to bond returns. During the periods of (I) November 1986 to March 1989, (II) January... Read more »

Did you know... When interest rates are threatening to rise, many income investors hesitate to lock in fixed rate coupons. The use of Fixed to Floating or Floating-Rate securities in an income generating strategy could be a solution for obtaining higher yields with investment grade securities as rates rise. A floating rate structured security has... Read more »