Bond Voyage

This month’s Bond Voyage looks at the Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) market in the UK – the quiet market making loud moves.

In this article, the first of a two‑part series, members of our liquidity team explore cash trends in a rapidly evolving financial landscape for corporate treasurers.

In this month’s Bond Voyage, we introduce SHIELD – the downside protection framework used by our fixed income division. SHIELD is designed to ensure our portfolios remain resilient in challenging market conditions while maintaining capital efficiency.

Asset-based finance is capturing the attention of institutional investors – from pension schemes to insurers – thanks to its diverse risk-return drivers and its growing role as a strategic building block in investors’ portfolios.

This month’s chart looks at the Magnificent Seven group of stocks and explores whether – rather than being a bubble akin to the dotcom era – their high valuations are justified by high earnings.

Vital industries for UK growth like steel or cement are also energy intensive, and their decarbonisation is essential. We convened a roundtable of experts to discuss barriers and solutions to unlocking low-carbon investment opportunities.

In this month’s Bond Voyage, our Solutions team investigates the reasons behind the widening gilt-swap spread and its implications for government bond investors, in particular for insurance companies.

In this month’s Bond Voyage, our solutions team explores the implications of a “higher for longer” US interest rate environment and what it could mean for investment grade (IG) investors.

This month’s chart highlights why a home bias could be counter-productive for UK investors given the continued underlying strength of US companies.

In this month’s Bond Voyage, our emerging market (EM) debt team explains why, after a few false dawns, the stars seem to have aligned for EM local currency debt to outperform other global fixed income assets.

As many central banks begin cutting interest rates, short-term bond strategies can offer a complement to cash holdings. Alastair Sewell explains.

Nana Antwi provides an overview of money-market funds (MMFs) and their importance in cash management for corporate treasurers and many other investor types.