Bond volatility continued to explode last week due to growing contagion fears from U.S. banks. Last Monday, after a weekend in which the U.S. government intervened to protect depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the 2-year U.S. note yield experienced its biggest one-day fall since October 20th, 1987. Outside of U.S. hours, it dropped the most since 1982. That intraday drop of close to 60 basis points even exceeded the declines during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, and 1987’s Black Monday market crash. Gregory Staples, head of fixed income North America at DWS Group in New York told MarketWatch that the week’s decline in the 2-year U.S. yield came as the result of “de-risking of portfolios and draining of liquidity, stemming from concerns about the health of the U.S. banking system, exacerbated by questions about the future of Credit Suisse.” The ICE BofAML Move Index, which measures bond-market volatility, surged on Wednesday and Thursday to its highest levels since the fourth quarter of 2008, during the height of the Financial Crisis. Volatility then continued on Friday over concerns around First Republic Bank. This sent Treasury yields plunging, one day after they spiked on the news of a funding deal.

Finsum:Last week, the ICE BofAML Move Index, a measure of bond-market volatility, soared to its highest levels since the 2008 Financial Crisis as banking concerns continue.

Over the past two weeks, Treasuries have been considered a safe haven for investors amid the current turmoil in the banking system. While Monday offered a quick respite as investors learned of the news that UBS is rescuing Credit Suisse in a $3.24 billion deal, yields are expected to move lower in the days and weeks ahead if the turmoil continues. Kelsey Berro, a portfolio manager in J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s global fixed-income group told Barron’s that “The direction for Treasury yields should be lower." She added that “This month’s bank-related volatility shows that high-quality bonds are working as a portfolio diversifier this year.” Rick Bensignor, managing partner of Bensignor Investment Strategies concurs. He told Barron’s that he thinks Treasury prices will go higher, pushing yields lower. He says that he “Can see the 10-year Treasury’s yield falling to 3.2% or even 3.1%, compared with 3.48% on Monday afternoon.” Bensignor expects that “There will be more banks that are going to let us know how much trouble they are in. It’s going to force people into the safety of the bond market.”

Finsum:While Monday offered a brief respite, treasuries yields are expected to move lower if the upheaval in the banking system continues, according to bond strategists.

Direct indexing? It seems you’re on.

It’s the next large splash in the financial industry, according to comparebrokers.co. And, get this: it’s under consideration as the future. In investing, that is.

Direct indexing’s been around the blocks a few times, of course. It’s been available in this country for, well, decades, according to nucleuswealth/com. Sparked by factors such as affordability and the personalization of portfolios, direct indexing’s popularity’s burgeoned.

Rather than tooling through a motherlode of available ETFs, you can personalize passive investments with direct indexing.

Damien Klassen, Chief Investment Officer at Nucleus Wealth, says: “Direct indexing is the next generation of exchange-traded funds – ETFs 2.0. Direct indexing involves the investor owning the individual shares that make up an index in a separately managed account.

“Because the investor directly owns each of the shares in their own account, they can (customize) their superannuation or investments. “Where an index mutual fund, an index ETF or traditional superannuation fund merely tracks the index, direct investing allows investors to control their investment decisions. Investors can modify their portfolios by creating ‘tilts’, which is the ability to remove or add certain holdings or sectors according to personal preferences.”

Last June, Kiplinger reported, as far as adoption among investors, direct indexing’s had gained the upper hand over both ETFs and mutual funds. Unique benefits that can’t be mirrored in a traditional ETF or mutual fund structure available through direct indexing, and that’s especially so around personalization and tax management. 

It’s been, um, shaky times, for Silicon Valley Bank. Perhaps you’ve heard.

Well, Wall Street certainly has. On the heels of the air going out of the balloon of the bank, U.S. Treasury markets have been enduring volatility to the max, reported reuters.com.

The ICE Boa MOVE Index (.MOVE) – a measure of anticipated treasuries volatility – has exploded beyond its high in the face of COVID. Today? It’s around levels experienced, during -- you  probably had a hunch -- the financial crisis.

Traders were compelled to reverse their bets on steepling rates in light of expectations the Fed would pause or ease up on increases in interest rates given the lighting fast fall of the bank, coupled with  Signature Bank’s.

Earlier in the year, Deloitte issued a banking and capital markets outlook in which, among other things, it laid out the global economy’s remaining fragility entering the year, according to deloitte.com. Uncertainties? You betcha, such as those stemming from a cocktails of factors, including the invasion of Ukraine, a topsy turvy supply chain, barreling inflation and a global tightening of monetary policy.

Banks, over the long run, the outlook continued, should look past product, industry or business model boundaries and seek new sources of value.

While direct indexing might be ready for added use this year, according to one expert, it’s hasn’t quite hit prime time when it comes to the majority of the wealth management industry, reported fa.mag.com.

“I’m not necessarily of the view that 2023 will be the year that direct indexing becomes broadly democratized,” said Anton Honikman, CEO of MyVest. “There’s a different discussion about bringing direct indexing to a broader market. What’s hindering that is the need for more of an experience with direct indexing.”

He continued: “I’m a fan of direct indexing,” said Honikman. “I think it will continue to grow, and I think it’s emblematic of an inexorable trend towards more personalized solutions.” That said, he also noted it’s “emblematic of the real interest and desire for more tax management -- particularly among the affluent and high-net-worth investors. For those reasons, I’m really positive about its future.”

But this year, however, when it comes to wealth management, direct indexing won’t be omnipresent.  Thing is, the technology that will abet the ability of direct indexing to maximize its potential isn’t in place, he noted. The personalization of financial plans and portfolios at scale would be enabled with such technology.

Rather, this year’s game plan will see technologists and wealth management firms remain on the road toward investing in overcoming issues evolving around personalization, added Honikman.

Based on a report by Cerulli Associates, over the next five years, direct indexing’s assets are expected to spike by more than 12% annually, according to investmentnews.com.