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Wednesday 07 February 2024
Investment Talks
February 2024 | For most of the last year, savers have been earning a reasonable return in cash. But how long can these compelling cash rates last? Historically, the answer has been: not very long. In every rate hike cycle since the 1970s, the US Federal Reserve has "paused at the peak" federal funds rate for a matter of months, not years, and history suggests the rate cuts could begin soon. Furthermore, once the Fed starts cutting its policy rate, cash rates could move hundreds of basis points lower in a very short period of time. We believe rotating from cash into short-term bonds can help investors reduce this reinvestment risk without taking on the full price volatility inherent in longer-duration fixed income exposures.
01 | With yields on cash currently elevated, we appreciate why cash allocations have swelled. However, as the Federal Reserve considers pivoting its stance, so too should investors.
02 | Against the interest rate risk inherent in most fixed income securities, investors should consider the reinvestment risk inherent in cash.
03 | Shifting exposure from cash to short-term bonds may allow investors to "lock in" much of today's elevated income levels while also positioning their portfolios for price upside.
Important Information
Unless otherwise stated, all information contained in this document is from Amundi Asset Management as of January 31, 2024 . Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. The views expressed regarding market and economic trends are those of the authors and not necessarily Amundi Asset Management and are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance that countries, markets or sectors will perform as expected. These views should not be relied upon as investment advice, a security recommendation, or as an indication of trading for any Amundi product or service. This material does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security, fund units or services. Investment involves risks, including market, political, liquidity and currency risks. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Amundi US is the US business of Amundi Asset Management.
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Although full year 2024 returns for High Yield were strong and spreads tightened during the fourth quarter, fourth quarter returns were weak with losses in both October and December due to yield curve headwinds. While defaults have moderated over the last few months, Moody’s recently increased its year-end global speculative grade default by issuer forecast to 4.6% on weaker US employment. Moody’s also projects the global default rate by issuer count to decline steadily across 2025, reaching 2.7% by next November.
To date, the US tech winners have been those companies that are engaging in substantial AI investments. The question is how and/or when will these be monetized. In the US, we expect a reset of the tech sector valuation levels, and we prefer to diversify risk away from monothematic AI plays. Specifically, leading memory players are building up capacity in high-bandwidth memory, which supports the training of AI models, and there could be a risk of over-capacity. There is also a greater focus on geopolitics among investors, and share price volatility could increase in 2025 as Trump's government is inaugurated. The primary issues are tariffs, revisions to the US Chip Act and a fall in China-US relations, all factors that could hurt the semiconductor supply chain globally.
Corporate debt spreads have tightened to near-record levels as the US economy has continued to expand and the Fed has begun to decrease its short-term interest rate target. We believe the improving credit health of the loan universe, the fact that loan coupons are priced off the front end of the still-inverted curve, and the strong possibility that the Fed will be unable to cut rates quickly due to sticky inflation, support the inclusion of loans in income-oriented portfolios. Additionally, considering the likely continuing stickiness of core services inflation, we believe floating rate assets such as loans are currently an attractive option to add diversification to investors’ fixed income portfolios, which are generally weighted in favor of fixed-rate instruments. In effect, we consider loan allocations to represent hedges against continuing high inflation.
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