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Market Outlooks
How the Return to “Normal” Could Reshape Markets
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With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic hopefully in sight, the options market is signaling that the return to “normal” could prompt the reversal of long-standing market trends, while new digital habits are likely here to stay.
Market Outlooks
Weekly Market Compass: I believe a robust, inclusive economic recovery is in the cards
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Happy New Year! No one wants a year in review for 2020, but here is what I learned from the past year: History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme. What we learned from 2020 is a repeat of the lesson we learned from the global financial crisis (GFC): Central banks are very powerful.
Market Outlooks
Weekly Market Compass: Brian Levitt and Talley Léger continue their discussion about what could impact a 2021 economic recovery
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The “recovery” trade is a hot topic of conversation, and so far the trends appear to support that storyline. But it’s important to watch out for blind spots and biases. Recently, we sat down to discuss what we’re seeing in the markets and the questions that could surprise us in 2021.
Market Outlooks
Weekly Market Compass: I Address nine issues to follow over the next few weeks
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This is the last blog of the year for me. And what a year it has been — one full of loss. Loss of people, first and foremost, and also of businesses. It was just reported the other day that New York icon The 21 Club will be closing for good, the latest of many service-related businesses to sadly fall victim to the pandemic. I think we are all eagerly waiting to close the books on 2020 and looking forward to brighter days in 2021.
Retirement
Plan Talk: How to Use Client Motivations to Encourage Better Social Security Decisions
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Many American workers fear that the Social Security trust could be depleted in the not-so-distant future, which may lead some individuals to collect their benefits early – a decision that can significantly reduce their earned benefit. In this episode of Plan Talk, Retirement Director Ben Rizzuto explains research-based techniques that can be used to help ensure people more fully consider their options and make better decisions regarding when to claim this important earned benefit.
Market Outlooks
Weekly Market Compass: Western economies may get worse before they get better
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While I have never lived in Florida, I have spent enough time there since childhood to be familiar with a weather phenomenon referred to as “the mean season.” It describes a brutal weather pattern that typically occurs in the late summer months.
Fixed Income Insights
The Shape of Credit
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In this Q&A, Portfolio Managers Jason England, Nick Maroutsos and Dan Siluk discuss the factors shaping credit markets, from central bank support to potential resilience from financials.
Key Takeaways
- Corporate earnings and cash flows are under strain, but while defaults are likely to increase, they should continue to be largely contained to sub-investment-grade issuers.
- Massive and proactive central bank support measures have injected confidence into markets, but this does not preclude sporadic bouts of future volatility and warrants a selective approach.
- We believe more resilient opportunities are likely to be found in higher-quality, shorter-dated investment-grade issues and continue to favor financial sector bonds and corporates with defensive attributes.
Fixed Income Insights
Building Bond Portfolios on a Strong Housing Market
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Conventional wisdom would suggest that rising unemployment would have discouraged consumers from making large contractual obligations like buying a new home, but the pandemic has affected the way many Americans think about housing. Portfolio Managers John Kerschner and Nick Childs discuss why this is happening and what it could mean for bond investors.
Fixed Income Insights
A Mostly Benign Outlook for U.S. Inflation
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The stabilization of U.S. economic growth amid unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus has raised questions about the likelihood of inflation returning. Global Head of Fixed Income Jim Cielinski explains why he does not see significant risk of sustained higher inflation materializing in the next few years – but cautions that short-term spikes are possible and that investors should evaluate the diversification that their fixed income portfolios provide.