The U.S. had two consecutive quarters of negative growth meeting the technical requirements of a recession, and for the first time in over 40 years that coincided with very high inflation. Tasked with generating high returns in a stagflation environment investors are turning to an odd place, emerging markets. While some EM has suffered as a result of a stronger dollar and Fed tightening, pockets are promising to bring big returns in higher growth environments abroad. Countries relying on exports will have a difficult time, but countries like India, Malaysia, and Indonesia all have fairly robust domestic consumer demand and are quick-growing economies. The last country is an oddball but China has continued to deliver stimulus throughout the pandemic and may put itself in a good position to capture investor attention.

Finsum: Equities abroad are ultra-low, finding the right countries with domestic consumer support could be very profitable.

Equities have rallied, inflation is falling in the month of July, and global gas prices seem to be easing; investors can shake off the volatility concerns, right? Not just yet. Volatility experts Paul Britton founder of Capstone Investment Advisors told the FT that we aren’t through the weeds just yet as the corporate debt crisis looms at the end of 2022. Britton says there is a significant repricing as companies might struggle to pay off high corporate debt with rising interest rates. Capstone looks to profit on increasing volatility as they are a considerable hedge fund, but the VIX is still falling below its long-run moving average for the first time in four months. Fed experts like Mary Daly, president of the SF Fed branch, say the inflation battle hasn’t been won yet, signaling more rate hikes may be needed to bury inflation.

Finsum: Failing to consider the fact that inflation favors borrowers, real borrowing costs on corporate debt have decreased considerably.

Fixed income investors might feel lost in the current environment, but with yields starting to generate real income and prices ultra-low it might be the perfect buying opportunity. A new series of bond ETFs centered around treasuries was launched to capitalize on this unique time in the bond market. Slope Capital LLC and Genoa Asset Management LLC launched 10-year (UTEN.O), two-year (UTWO.O), and three-month (TBIL.O) dropped ETFs that will hold the most recent current Treasuries in the respective categories. Managers of the funds say this is well crafted precise tool for the fixed income investors that need a product like this. It gives new potential to bond investors in a precise way to tailor portfolios. There has been a flood into fixed income products as of late and funds are launching rapidly in response and will continue over the next half-decade.

Finsum: These tools can be utilized for investors wanting bond exposure, but not wanting to deal with the task of trading in the treasuries market and constantly updating

As the economy’s taken a wicked turn toward the dark side, the clamor for fixed income ETFs has parachuted, according to usnews.com.

Peng Cheng, JP Morgan strategist, explained that this includes retail investors, who hopped on the bandwagon last month, loading into credit ETFs like SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and the share iBoxx $ Inv Grade Corporate Bond ETF.

Earlier in the month, a new series of exchanged-traded funds launched, the US Benchmark Series. That will help ease they way for individual and institutional investors to trade the must updated individual benchmark U.S. Treasuries, which will shone a light on the maturing ETFs in the fixed income category, according to reuters.com. "This gives (investors) a tool to say, we really want to focus on how we execute our investment strategy, as opposed to how effectively we trade Treasury bonds," said F/m President Alex Morris.

New York state’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has proposed updates to regulations in the oversight of cybersecurity risks. The proposal would require board approval of cyber policies at banks, insurers, and other financial institutions that meet a certain size threshold laid out by the regulator. Companies would also have to disclose whether their directors have the expertise to oversee security risks or if they rely on outside cyber consultants. The proposal updates New York’s first-of-its-kind cybersecurity rules for financial institutions. Companies that run afoul of the new rules would risk NYDFS fines. The proposal follows similar federal proposals in which the SEC had highlighted board cyber expertise in proposed breach-reporting rules. Both the SEC and NYDFS proposals highlight the fact that increased threats from ransomware are too broad for security experts to oversee on their own. The updated regulations are expected to increase pressure on companies to quickly gauge the business impacts of such events. 

Finsum: Following in the SEC’s footsteps, the NYDFS has proposed an update to cybersecurity regulations that would require board approval of cyber policies at financial institutions.