Markets
The bond market has given investors pause, and the international bond market especially so. While continuing Covid-19, international war, and rising rates may scare investors, international bonds still add enough diversification to justify their place in the portfolio. Investors are more worried about inflation/interest rates now than Ukraine and Russia, and that risk is heightened domestically. As the Fed hikes rates, yields will rise and hurt domestic bond and equity portfolios. The Euro area has significantly less interest and inflation risk in the near term. Additionally, the deglobalization of covid is slowly going away, and as markets open up that will only improve the position of international bonds.
Finsum: ETFs with large exposure are best in international markets because tensions surrounding global issues are heightened right now.
Not all REITs are created equally, and many have been pumping out dividends and will come to a screeching halt as the Fed begins to hike interest rates. However, three REITs are in a good position to show dividend resilience to the interest rate risk. The First is Medical Properties Trust which is a healthcare REIT that has three developing investments to create flows for dividends. VICI Properties is up next which is acquiring MGM Growth Properties and has a very low debt to EBITDA ratio which will help in securing dividend payouts. Finally, a long-term strategy is the 1st Street Office which has a consistently high dividend and shares are tied to its NAV.
Finsum: Rate hikes are slow to affect real estate compared to other assets, but aggressive hikes could move quicker.
The muni market has seen sky-rocketing volatility the last ten days with the highest point since the onset of the pandemic. That volatility has hurt many investors as yields rose by over 11 basis points sending bond prices tumbling. Triggering this decline in muni bond prices was Fed Chair Powell’s hawkish turn which included tapering asset purchases and raising rates. This loss is positioning munis for their worst quarter in almost 30 years. Some muni bond issuers are pausing or flat out canceling their development in the wake of a flat out crisis.
Finsum: This could be a quarter for muni bonds which have a close pass through to the Feds target interest rate and are therefore more sensitive.
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A small but substantial change may be shaking the bond ETF infrastructure to its core. The New York State Department Financial services is allowing insurers to label bond ETFs as individual bonds rather than as equity risk. Companies have issued lots of new debt setting records as record low interest rates have made it appealing. This regulation could change the way the Fed and other regulators interact with bond markets, and could lead to the sort of efforts that saved the bond market in 2020. These will allow more bond products and increase inflows, but for insurers bond ETFs have more complications than a traditional single fixed income security and could provide difficulties in the future.
Finsum: Small changes to regulator practices like this can lead to massive swings in credit creation, keep an eye on bond ETFs.
Most fixed income ETFs used to be linked to passive tracking products in the bond market, that is until more recently. Rules Adopted by the US SEC have steered many investors to active fixed income by making it easier to launch new active ETFs. Active funds are attractive for ETF producers because they draw higher fees (about .2 percent) than active funds. This has led to an explosion in active fixed income. Active bond fund creation is growing at nearly double the rate of the rest of the ETF market, and investors are ready as well as 2021 saw a record pace of inflows. One big factor in shifting more investors into active fixed income is aging global demographics which are still searching for yield and income.
Finsum: The world’s aging population is creating a safe asset shortage and pushing bond prices higher.
The Fed hiked rates at the latest FOMC meeting but they were partially forced to with just about every measure of inflation hitting 30-year highs. However, more importantly they project that the federal funds rate will hit 2.75% by the end of 2023. This may have been the first hike in years but it will be one of eleven if they want to hit that mark. The bond market is pessimistic as they not only are projecting less hikes, but slower growth as well. The yield curve is indicating inflation will be under control but it might be costly. Typically this means that the Fed won’t mean to hike as frequently as they are indicating. There has been a lot of action in the TIPS market and it is indicating they expect inflation to average just shy of 2.8% in the next decade.
Finsum: Markets are most likely right in this scenario and that fewer rate hikes will get inflation under control; hopefully the economy can take the hit.