Currency – Page 4
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: COVID starts to lose grip on GDP
COVID’s huge influence on all our lives, whether through disruption of global supply chains or threats of lockdowns in the face of soaring infection rates, was reasonably constant throughout 2021. However, it now appears that GDP numbers have become generally less sensitive to COVID infection rates than they were, say, 18 months ago, with high vaccination rates (certainly across developed markets), and an awareness from politicians that the public’s willingness to comply with lockdowns may be waning fast.
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FeaturesAhead of the curve: The rise of altcoins and potential institutional adoption
It is interesting to sit between traditional investors and the crypto-native communities: one has just started on the Bitcoin adoption curve while the other might already consider Bitcoin to be a ‘boomer coin’.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Economies at a sensitive juncture
Another new year and we are still in a COVID pandemic, as we were a year ago, although this time with economic grow-th looking pretty robust across the world. But, despite the best efforts of healthcare workers, scientists and politicians, the virus continues to exert an unnervingly strong influence on all our lives.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Policy normalisation kicks in
Although several emerging market (EM) central banks have been hiking rates for a few months already this year, particularly in Latin America, it was only in the third quarter of 2021 that the global share of central banks raising official rates moved above 50%. This is the first time in three years that this has been the case, as several developed market central banks joined emerging market counterparts to tighten rates.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Crypto currencies gain a toe-hold in America’s 401(k) retirement plans
Crypto investing is not going to become mainstream any time soon in 401(k) plans. But the US retirement market is becoming more and more sophisticated – investors are becoming interested in digital assets, and asset managers, platform providers and consultants are all developing digital products and services.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Simmering tensions bubble up
After a reasonably peaceful summer – relative to the many previous volatile ones for capital markets, that is – simmering tensions are bubbling over, affecting many financial asset classes.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Not quite back to normal
As the world struggles to get back to pre-pandemic conditions, with schools and offices open, economic forecasting seems even less predictable than ever. Take August’s US payrolls report, which again confounded most forecasters. Analysts scrambled to explain why the headline job gains were so weak, particularly after the huge (forecast-beating) gains the previous month.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Market signals cloud the picture
From preliminary data, Europe’s second-quarter growth appears to have been surprisingly strong, seemingly led by services, such as strong retail sales. Supply-side problems are still constraining the goods sector generally, hitting the German economy especially, with industrial production falling more than one percentage point over the second quarter.
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FeaturesFixed 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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FeaturesBriefing: 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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FeaturesBriefing: 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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FeaturesFixed 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 PiecesLetter 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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FeaturesAhead of the curve: Crypto assets
It is no longer prudent to ignore the potential of crypto assets
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FeaturesFixed 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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FeaturesFixed 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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FeaturesFixed 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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FeaturesFixed 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.
