The proliferation of ETFs has allowed for investors to more easily shed their home country bias when it comes to fixed income exposure in their portfolios. Among the 200+ Bond ETFs available, many have been quick to embrace emerging market offerings in lieu of developed market debt given the more attractive yields and potential to generate uncorrelated returns offered by this asset class [see 101 High Yield ETFs Every Dividend Investor Must Know].
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Matt Tucker, CFA, is the iShares Head of Fixed Income Strategy and a regular contributor to the iShares Blog. In an earlier post I examined the mysterious rise in interest rates that we have seen in the first quarter the past few years. Each year we’ve seen rates creep higher from January to March, and [...]
Despite talk of an imminent sharp rise in interest rates, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note is back below 2%. This is more evidence that the much vaunted “Great Rotation” out of bonds has yet to occur. (Otherwise, bond prices would have fallen and yields would have gone up.) The great rotation was always [...]
In previous blog posts, I wrote about how the economic and investment world has evolved over the past five years. Now, as the latest Federal Reserve meeting finishes up, I wanted to delve a little more into how the fixed income landscape in particular has changed, thanks in a big part to the actions of [...]
Stocks kicked off the trading week on a positive note Monday morning, and buying euphoria stuck around in the days following as upbeat economic data stole the headlines. Improvements in home prices and better-than-expected employment data took center stage, although Friday’s numbers surprisingly failed to ignite a bigger rally; the latest nonfarm payrolls figure showed 236,000 jobs [...]
Last week gave the bulls a scare as profit taking pressures swiftly knocked down major indexes at the start of the week, however, buyers poured in and helped the market regain its footing by the closing bell on Friday. After failing to post fresh highs last week and enduring volatile trading, U.S. equity indexes could face stiff [...]
As the U.S. market slowly wanders towards the road to recovery, many investors who had avoided the short-term effects of the recession are now left looking for a long-term solution for slow American economic growth without risking everything. One option is to look through emerging market bonds, which often offer growth potential unparalleled in the United States [...]
The bears finally made an appearance on Wall Street, although it was fairly short-lived. Profit taking pressures permeated the marketplace on Wednesday as investors fretted over worse-than-expected housing starts data while mixed FOMC minutes further added to the cloud of uncertainty for the day. Nonetheless, the bulls returned with great vigor on Friday and regained [...]
Investors returned to Wall Street in a buying mood Tuesday morning following the long weekend in observance of President’s Day. European markets kicked off the week on a sour note after elections in Italy sent waves of worry across the currency bloc, however, this wasn’t enough to spook the bulls from returning to the home [...]
Individual emerging market bonds are difficult to purchase and come with significant risk. For this reason, investors are turning to ETFs to gain broad exposure to this market. ETFs don’t remove currency, interest rate, and other risk factors inherent to international bond investing, but the diversification that an ETF offers mitigates these risks and can [...]
As the U.S. market slowly wanders towards the road to recovery, many investors who had avoided the short term effects of the recession are now left scratching their heads, looking for a long term solution for slow American economic growth without risking everything. One option is to look through emerging market bonds, which often offer [...]
