FICC Focus

Mortgage-backed securities may benefit from renewed bank demand as Fed easing improves net interest margins, according to Bloomberg Intelligence mortgage strategist Erica Adelberg. On this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast, she joins host Ira Jersey, BI’s chief US interest-rate strategist, to discuss mortgage issuance, market structure, the role of cash buyers in housing and how the Fed’s balance sheet is likely to affect mortgage supply. They also review research indicating that a significant portion of mortgages originated in recent years can now be refinanced. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Digital art has been around for decades but blockchain technology provides provenance. In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI chief global derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu is joined by Nicole Sales Giles, Director of Digital Art at Christie's to discuss the volatility of the NFT art market, AI generated art and emerging artists to watch.

The official line is that QT has added 15-25 bps on 10-year gilts, but it’s probably adding quite a bit more than that, says Huw Worthington, chief European rates strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, who sees signs that central banks are addressing that now. In this episode of the FICC Focus podcast, Worthington is joined by BI chief US rates strategist Ira Jersey and senior US & Canada rates-strategy associate Will Hoffman to discuss takeaways from the recent Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Canada meetings. The trio discusses the outlook for the path of monetary policy and the direction of interest rates and yield curves across North American and European sovereign-bond markets. They also examine the focus on shifting balance-sheet policies as North American funding markets see some pressure and the Bank of England slows the pace of asset runoff.  The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

“I think it’s very difficult to predict a world where you might go back to zero interest rates. And so that all portends that there’s likely to be an uptick in default rates,” says Jeff Diehl, managing partner and head of investments at Adams Street, discussing potential challenges awaiting direct lenders after the strong growth of the asset class. Diehl joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about Adams Street’s approach to private credit managers, a focus on sectors exposed to disruption, how having private equity (PE) and venture capital exposures creates synergies. They also discuss private market secondaries, how hyper-scaling in parts of the direct-lending market may add returns risk and the outlook for PE exit activity. The information presented herein is provided for informational and educational purposes only; it is not investment advice, nor is it an offer or sale of, or a recommendation related to, the securities of any fund or company, investment products, or investment advice. This podcast is a recording of extemporaneous remarks delivered in an informal, conversational format.  The comments are high-level in nature, represent the subjective impression of the speaker, may be forward-looking and are subject to change.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and there can be no guarantee against a loss, including a complete loss, of capital.”

“I spend most of my time trying to downplay the stuff that you find fascinating, right?,” Joele Frank Partner Michael Freitag says. “The inter-creditor interaction, the creditor versus sponsor interaction, the creditor versus issuer action. We try to position all of that as this noise, this thing going off to the side, being managed by sophisticated investors and sophisticated advisors.” In this episode of The State of Distressed Debt, Freitag discusses with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert and Phil Brendel how distressed companies’ strategic communications have evolved over the past 30 years. (6:20) Freitag delves into the crafting and sequencing of press releases and 8-Ks as part of a comprehensive restructuring strategy, stressing that accurate, timely communications are critical to combat the growing presence of “dark arts” in social media. The podcast concludes with BI’s Negisa Balluku joining Hebert and Brendel for a roundtable discussion on Spirit Airlines, LifeScan, At Home, Azul, TPI Composites, Claire’s and QVC Group. (1:14:00)

Foreign demand for emerging-market local debt is improving, as overseas investors pursue yield differentials amid diminishing currency volatility. Bertrand Delgado, head of Latin America strategy at Societe Generale, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief emerging market fixed income strategist, to assess macroeconomic conditions across Latin America and the broader EM landscape, with implications for institutional investors across the globe. Delgado and Sassower touch on topics ranging from portfolio flows and foreign direct investment to cross-asset volatility and currency skew.

“The Federal Reserve was created to have a degree of what I like to call operational independence”, says Federated Hermes Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income RJ Gallo on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series. He joins host and Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Interest Rate Strategist Ira Jersey to discuss future movements of the Treasury yield curve, recent economic data and its quality, and effects of recent government policies such as tariffs and the budget. On monetary policy and the risks to Fed independence, he believes the Fed was created to have a degree of operational independence, but as an organization with board members appointed by political officials, it’s not outside the political sphere. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Credit fared better than rates and equities through multiple crises this year across the globe — France, tariffs, Fed concerns and even the UK worries. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, host Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of credit strategy, discusses these crises and the multi-asset outlook with Iain Stealey, international CIO of global fixed income at JPMorgan Asset Management. They cover US, Europe and UK growth, inflation, central bank views and the dollar. The state of credit fundamentals and default expectations for the next year across Europe and the US are examined in detail, highlighting the resilience of credit in outperforming rates and equities. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Institutional demand has been slow to return to the muni market in 2025, leaving performance at the long end under pressure. Yet signs are emerging that banks, insurance companies, and crossover buyers may be stepping back in as tax clarity improves and relative value looks more compelling. In this episode of FICC Focus, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Karen Altamirano is joined by her former co-host, Eric Kazatsky, managing director and client portfolio manager at MacKay Shields, to discuss his new role, and how institutional money could help support the yield curve into year-end.

The real yield curve may steepen from both ends much further then it has, Mizuho Securities Head of Macro Strategy Dominic Konstam says on this Macro Matters edition of FICC Focus podcast. Konstam joins host Ira Jersey, head of interest-rate strategy at Bloomberg Intelligence. After reviewing Konstam’s career arc, the two discuss term premium and how shifts in the yield curve could effect risk assets. Konstam thinks Trump Administration policies will continue to weight on the dollar. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Fiscal policy returned to the forefront of G10FX drivers in early September — which isn’t particularly positive for the dollar — and part of the structural bear case we identified earlier this year. In this episode of FICC Focus, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief G10FX Strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Dr Win Thin, chief economist at Bank of Nassau 1982 Limited argue that the dollar’s next leg lower could be cyclical in nature, with any further weakening in US non-farm payrolls likely to engender continued Fed rate-cut talk into the September FOMC Meeting. Win and Audrey also acknowledge a less-supportive context for the euro, but conclude on enough dollar bearishness to validate $1.20 euro-dollar later this year. For now defensive FX such as the Swiss franc has its merits. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Commercial real estate debt strategies continue to unlock value for institutional investors as providing credit solutions across the capital stack grows increasingly more complex. Jim Dunbar, partner and head of Real Estate Lending at Varde Partners, joins BI chief fixed income strategist Damian Sassower to discuss his firm’s approach to identifying opportunities and managing risk in commercial and residential real estate. Dunbar and Sassower discuss the role of flexible capital in real estate finance, with a focus on engineering returns, servicing loans and scaling strategies.

Defense burden-sharing among US allies is a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s international agenda, but has been overshadowed by tariff discussions. On this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast series, George Ferguson, senior aerospace/defense & airline analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, joins host and BI chief interest-rate strategist Ira Jersey to discuss shifts in defense spending and weapon systems. They also examine how spending may shift based on proximity to threats. Ferguson assesses the companies that may benefit from these increased outlays, and some of the challenges in fulfilling orders. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Significant Risk Transfers or SRTs have been a crucial part of balance sheet management for banks and an attractive investment class within private credit for credit investors looking for alternatives to public credit markets. Demystifying SRTs and understanding the process and evaluation of these assets is crucial for credit investors. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Global Head of Credit Strategy at Bloomberg Intelligence hosts an investor, Matthew Moniot, Head of Credit Risk Sharing at ManGroup and a seller, James Plunkett, Head of Capital and Risk Distribution at Natwest along with Lento Tang, Senior Bank Analyst who has published a survey on SRTs, in a highly informative podcast. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

The perception of the UK economic outlook on a macro level may be perceived to be negative through the lens of social media. In this edition of the All Options Considered podcast, BI chief global derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu is joined by Dan Hanson, chief UK economist at Bloomberg Economics to discuss the state of the economy, bond market volatility and the fiscal outlook.

“So it’s a tough situation when you’re managing a spread-based portfolio, like a CLO. And obviously we don’t have the luxury of tightening the spreads on the liability side,” says Matt Bloomfield, partner at Palmer Square and president of Palmer Square Capital BDC, when discussing the current pace of re-pricings across the leveraged loan market. Bloomfield joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about traditional and static CLOs, a less-conventional approach to business development companies and Palmer’s roots in opportunistic credit. They also discuss relative value and the current credit landscape, the advantages of scale, diversification and leverage.

The future of the dollar is dictated by the large overhang of unhedged dollar assets, says Hemant Baijal, head of macro alpha strategies at Invesco. Baijal joins Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence’s head of US interest-rate strategy, and Will Hoffman, BI’s senior US and Canada rates-strategy associate, on this episode of the Macro Matters podcast to discuss the world of international bond funds. They cover strategic approaches to managing global rates, credit and FX risks, and how those have shifted in recent months. They also explore relative value across nominal and inflation-linked curves. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Global credit is very tight and strategic insights are very valuable at this juncture. In this latest episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Global Head of Credit Strategy hosts the Global Credit Strategy team to highlight worldwide research, data and views. Meet Tim Tan and Jason Lee (Asia), Basel Al-Waqayan (Middle East), Heema Patel (Europe) and Reto Bachmann (Structured Finance) as you get to know their research and data along with their key views on the markets and themes they cover. All strategists discuss the place of their markets in world credit, relative value, and their new product launches. Visit BI STRTA, BI STRTE, BI STRTN and BI EMFIG to access all their research and data. Credit Crunch is part of BI’s FICC Focus series. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The record-breaking pace of muni issuance and investors’ risk-off tone toward duration have driven a sharp steepening of the municipal yield curve, leaving it trailing other fixed-income sectors. In an environment also marked by market volatility and shifting policy dynamics, the case for active management in munis has never been stronger. In this episode of the Masters of the Muniverse podcast, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Karen Altamirano talks with Jason Hannon, head of municipal strategy and senior portfolio manager at Wilmington Trust, about how this year’s developments are shaping muni investment decisions.

“So for us, it’s a $40 trillion market,” says John Cortese, head of portfolio management at Apollo, when talking about the mostly investment grade opportunity in private credit, including asset backed deals and corporates. Cortese joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast to talk about where the growth comes from, the evolution of a secondary market and why private credit works for high grade borrowers. They also get into the shifting landscape in credit trading, the advantages of being big and fast, relative value plays and lessons learned from trading synthetics in the early aughts.