Author: Lance Pan

Lance Pan joined Capital Advisors Group in 2003. As Director of Investment Research and Strategy, Lance assesses the risk and relative value of asset classes and credits, creates advanced credit approval and surveillance procedures, issues credit opinions, and provides investment strategy recommendations. Lance oversees Capital Advisors Group’s Credit Committee.
Liquidity Management Top Ten: Fine-Tuning Cash Portfolios

Liquidity Management Top Ten: Fine-Tuning Cash Portfolios

10 min readExecutive Summary Effective liquidity management, especially for large cash portfolios with a range of investments, can quickly turn into a larger and more complex task than initially expected. Some financial executives may not have a firm grasp of what liquidity means in a portfolio of individual cash assets. But adhering to some simple guidelines and…

How to Position Corporate Cash Portfolios for the Debt Ceiling Showdown

How to Position Corporate Cash Portfolios for the Debt Ceiling Showdown

15 min readOnce again, it’s time for CFOs and corporate cash investors to start focusing on another debt ceiling showdown in the United States Congress. On May 1st, 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen updated Congressional leaders that the United States would not be able to pay all its bills by June 1st, 2023.1 Secretary Yellen had previously…

An Expensive Lesson on Uninsured Deposit Risk in Cash Management

An Expensive Lesson on Uninsured Deposit Risk in Cash Management

2 min readIntroduction The single biggest credit risk for institutional cash investors lies in the large uninsured deposits they leave at their operating banks. Particularly at risk are uninsured balances at banks with less diversified business profiles and aggressive risk cultures that expose depositors to the risk of a bank run, which is difficult to predict and…

Rates, Commodities and Consumer Finance: Three Themes to Watch in 2023

Rates, Commodities and Consumer Finance: Three Themes to Watch in 2023

11 min readIntroduction By Lance Pan, CFA Since we started publishing the annual “themes to watch” series in 2008, this edition marks our 16th anniversary of looking at key market-moving trends for institutional cash investors. To shake off our Covid-induced autophobia (fear of being alone), I enlisted members of my credit research team to co-author last year’s…

Managing Cash Portfolios in the Tug of War Between Growth and Inflation

Managing Cash Portfolios in the Tug of War Between Growth and Inflation

14 min readIntroduction With the 75-basis-point hike in the Fed funds rate on September 21st, Fed officials now peg their median forecast for the key policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range by the end of the year. The resulting rise in bond yields has been so breathtaking that the previous expectation that Fed funds would end the…

Will There Be a Renaissance for Prime Money Market Funds?

Will There Be a Renaissance for Prime Money Market Funds?

13 min readAs the market’s attention was drawn to the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, runaway inflation, and higher interest rates, a significant deadline quietly passed. April 11 marked the end of the comment period for the new round of money market fund (MMF) reforms proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As the Fed…

Rates, Supply Chain, ESG and Stablecoins: Three (+1) Themes to Watch in 2022

Rates, Supply Chain, ESG and Stablecoins: Three (+1) Themes to Watch in 2022

16 min readIntroduction It has been our tradition to offer up three broad themes that will likely have the greatest impact on cash investments in the new year. After the research staff endured 20 months of work-from-home, I wanted to reward endurance by inviting them to each pick a theme for this look-ahead piece, hence the “three…

Vaccines, ESG and LIBOR Replacement – Three Themes to Watch in 2021

Vaccines, ESG and LIBOR Replacement – Three Themes to Watch in 2021

18 min readWe identify three themes to watch for cash investors each year. For 2021, we focus on vaccines, ESG and LIBOR replacement. DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT Introduction At the start of each year, we typically name three broad themes that we think will have the greatest potential impact on the short-term debt markets. Our 2020 picks posed…

ESG Investing for Cash Management Portfolios

ESG Investing for Cash Management Portfolios

1 min readIn this webcast, Lance Pan defines ESG, discusses how to apply ESG to fixed income and cash investments, and outlines how you can select an ESG provider.  Watch the webcast: Click the above webcast link for episode 3 of Credit Update. Hosted by Capital Advisors Group’s Director of Investment Research and Strategy, Lance Pan. Topics…