All Currency articles – Page 3
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Trickier than usual
Amongst the myriad of investment conundrums facing investors, one of the more pressing today is whether – or not – the US economy will overheat. Though the Federal Reserve has done a good job assuring the markets that while (US) inflation data may indeed print higher than “target”, Chair Jerome Powell will be “looking through” any rises. They have argued that these should be temporary and a dovish outlook will remain.
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Features
Briefing: Bonds on the blockchain
Bitcoin’s wild ride has been hard to ignore this past year. However, it has mainly attracted its stalwart audience of retail investors, family offices and hedge funds. Institutional investors mostly sat on the sidelines, although interest has been piqued. Digital assets, most notably bonds and not cryptocurrencies, are likely to garner the inflows owing to the comfort of regulation and established market infrastructure.
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Features
Briefing: Central bank digital currencies take shape
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), also sometimes called govcoins, have suddenly become a subject of public discussion. Until recently the topic was mainly the preserve of a coterie of technical experts working for central banks and niche technology firms. But now there seems to be immense excitement about their potential to transform finance. There are even some who suggest the new technology could allow the renminbi to overtake the dollar as the world’s leading cross-border currency.
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Features
Fixed income, rates, currencies: Still missing the target
Most would agree that one data release from an important but volatile dataset – employment figures – should be read with caveats. However, the scale of the forecasting ‘miss’ for April’s US job numbers was hard to dismiss as just noise.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from US: The rise of the new alternatives
Pension funds and other institutional investors used to invest in hedge funds aspiring to outperform public stock and bond benchmarks. Now, after years of disappointing performances, they have changed their attitude. They still invest in hedge funds, but the new expectation is simply to get a few percentage points above the return on zero risk investments.
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Features
Ahead of the curve: Crypto assets
It is no longer prudent to ignore the potential of crypto assets
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: A false start
While we may be approaching that ‘exit from pandemic’ moment, the exceptional monetary and fiscal responses from policymakers ensure COVID-19’s economic legacy will be felt globally for years to come.
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Rising yields signal reflation
The Federal Reserve has not hinted at its future plans to unwind quantitative easing (QE). However, markets are looking to 2013’s ‘taper tantrum’ for an explanation of the dramatic US-led bond market sell-offs.
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News
Swiss investor issues up to $500m in IPE Quest search
Plus: Benelux-based fund launches nine ‘Discoveries’ worth a combined €143.5m
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Priming the pump
Although COVID-19 infection rates are falling across many regions, the ‘success’ is more a reflection of lockdown restrictions keeping opportunities for virus spread low.
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News
Mandate roundup: Swiss investor issues IPE Quest searches for $1bn
Plus: Manco issues RFI for transfer agency, registrar services
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Same again in 2021?
The relief from the farewells to 2020, and welcoming a Brexit trade deal, has waned in the face of rising COVID-19 infection rates. There have also been further lockdowns across swathes of Northern Europe as well as in Japan, Thailand, and South Africa to name a few. The vaccine-generated light at the end of the tunnel which appeared last year, seems rather distant, and possibly dimmer too.
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: A very different recovery
Amongst the remarkable happenings in 2020, from startling news of a pandemic to viable vaccine and beyond, has been the speed and scale of interventions from central banks and governments.
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Vaccine boosts bullish markets
The swings in outcome predictions as the vote counting began in the US election were large. From the realisation that there was no blue wave of Democrat success, to a possible re-election for Donald Trump, to a Joe Biden win but with a Republican Senate, it was tricky to comprehend the investment implications.
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Features
Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Economy reaches tipping point
The global reflation trade, and with it the outlook for further dollar weakness, seems paused as speculation on the outcome of the imminent US presidential election diverts attention and has many retreating to neutral positions.
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Features
Ahead of the curve: Gold all set to shine during uncertain times
Which asset has no cash flow or yield, has a volatility similar to equities even though its long-term performance lags behind equities, and which has also had long periods of negative returns? Gold.
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Features
Fixed income, rates, currencies: Reality gap widens
August 2020 saw the US Treasury market post one of its worst monthly performances since November 2016, while global equities, led by the US, reached new highs.
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Features
Fixed income, rates, currencies: Still facing anxious times
Developed market government bond yields have spent the summer drifting lower as risk assets traded better. However, this benign climate has not lifted the fog of confusion caused by COVID-19.
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Features
The Renminbi: A matter of trust
Only a few years ago, there was much hype about the renminbi becoming the next significant reserve currency and potentially even threatening the dominance of the dollar.
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Features
Fixed income, rates, currencies: Dismay sets in
As lockdowns ease, particularly in the northern hemisphere and the Antipodes, economic recoveries get underway. Given the exceptional circumstances, economic forecasts and predictions may show little consensus, or potentially be wrong, the puzzling US payroll announcements for May being a vivid example.