BLOG

Are you ready for uniform MBS? (Part 2) 

Models/Client Cases , Fixed Income , Risk Management

Aligning prepayment speeds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities presents a major challenge to the success of uniform mortgage-backed securities (UMBS), which the two government-sponsored enterprises will launch on June 3.

BLOG

A more politicized Fed? The market yawns 

Fixed Income , Risk Management

Could the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) become less independent, with political forces exerting more influence?

BLOG

The Right Tool: How Suitable is Your Real Estate Benchmark? 

Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

You don’t have to be a master craftsman to appreciate the benefits of using the right tool for the job. Even the most casual do-it-yourselfer has experienced the frustration of using the wrong screwdriver for a particular job — one that doesn’t quite fit the screw properly and shreds the head, leaving it uselessly stuck in the wood without fixing anything.

BLOG

Need a Lyft? Why the IPO blew a tire 

Equity Themes , ESG Research , Risk Management

A week into the highly publicized IPO for Lyft Inc., the ride-sharing company, it’s hard to say it went exactly as planned.

BLOG

Are You Ready For Uniform MBS? (Part 1) 

Models/Client Cases , Fixed Income , Risk Management

Fannie & Freddie will conclude Single Security Initiative (SSI) June 3, 2019, creating a single to-be-announced (TBA) market & a new TBA security: the uniform mortgage-backed security (UMBS)

BLOG

What Yield-Curve Inversions Have Meant For Markets 

Equity Themes , Economic Exposure , Fixed Income

Inversion of the yield curve has historically been a reliable indicator that a recession is coming. But what has it implied for stock prices and Treasury rates?

BLOG

Evaluating the impact of LIBOR fallback 

Fixed Income , Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

The planned discontinuation of LIBOR and other interbank offer rates sometime in 2022 will affect a large number of existing financial contracts based on these benchmarks.

BLOG

Factors in Focus: Risky start. Quality finish. 

Factors , Global Investing , Factor Investing

We highlight the fast-moving rotation among factors that continued during Q1 2019. As we move into Q2 2019, this framework showed allocation changes in different factors.

BLOG

Saudi Arabia inclusion and emerging markets 

Equity Themes , Emerging Markets , Global Investing

Saudi Arabian stocks will be included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI ACWI Index in a two-step process starting in June this year. With the first step of inclusion of the MSCI Saudi Arabian Index coming shortly, we ask how inclusion of this Middle Eastern market would have affected the MSCI EM Indexes.

BLOG

Have High-Yield ETFs Created Liquidity Risk? 

Fixed Income , Risk Management , Integrated Risk Management

In the fourth quarter of 2018, redemptions of high-yield ETFs soared to approximately 25% of these funds’ assets under management (AUM), according to data provider IHS Markit.