Municipal Duration and the Coming Change
01/01/2015
Historically, tax-exempt municipal bonds have exhibited lower price volatility than similar maturity Treasury bonds. That is, a municipal and Treasury bond with the same maturity have similar durations or price sensitivity with respect to changes in their yield to maturity.
Meet the New Fed Boss, Same as the Old Boss?
12/01/2014
The effective date for IFRS 9 is January 1, 2018; however, early adoption is permitted. (If a company elects early adoption, it must elect all aspects of IFRS 9 not just the impairment portion.)
Conning Releases Latest Semi-Annual State of the States Municipal Credit Report and Rankings (Q4, 2014)
11/18/2014
(Q4, 2014), insurance asset manager Conning sees improvement in aggregate state credit quality due to economic growth bolstering state revenues which has led to increases in fund balances for most states. While strong employment growth, higher consumer confidence, and improved housing prices are driving up revenue, the improvement is not uniform across all states.
Tax advantaged securities for health insurance companies
08/01/2014
Tax-exempt municipal securities play an important role in the investment portfolios for non-life companies, including health companies. The benefit of investing in tax-exempt municipal securities depends on a company’s tax status.
Emerging Markets: Update on Latin America
07/01/2014
Latin America has been a rising star for some time. Over the past decade, most of the region has grown GDP per capita as well as had rating upgrades. Countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico implemented robust reforms and saw their institutions and banking systems improve, while deepening their markets.
Emerging Markets: Asia Update
06/01/2014
It has been an eventful start to the year for the emerging Asia equity markets, as there were various challenges to the economic performance of the region. The U.S. Fed began its “tapering” program and yet again raised concerns about countries with a current account deficit.
Emerging Markets: Watching for Signals
06/01/2014
The world has changed considerably since our last overview publication on Emerging Markets (EM) in May 2012. Globally, investors have been contending with the end of the quantitative easing (QE) and rising interest rates, political instability, slowing growth in China, declining commodity prices and a narrowing growth differential between EM and Developed Markets (DM).
Quantitative Tightening?
06/01/2014
In November of 2008, the Federal Reserve, under the leadership of Chairman Ben Bernanke, announced it would begin a phase of monetary policy called “quantitative easing (QE).” The program involved the purchase of securities in the open market and was designed to have a stimulative effect on the U.S. economy by reducing market interest rates.
U.S. Investment Grade Corporate Credit; 7th Inning Stretch or Bottom of the 9th?
06/01/2014
The corporate market has gone nearly full circle in the past decade, and investors find themselves in an environment that looks disturbingly similar to 2005-2006, with narrow spreads, compressed differentials across ratings, and rising event risk.