14 min readMinutes from the December FOMC meeting indicated that some Federal Reserve officials wanted to begin discussing “slowing the pace” of securities runoffs on its balance sheet. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed after the January meeting that the Committee will begin formal conversations on the topic at its March meeting. The indication of an end…
19 min readDOWNLOAD FULL REPORT Introduction By Lance Pan, CFA “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” As the new year approaches and I prepare this introduction to our annual market outlook on cash investments, I can’t think of a better way to describe the past year than this quote by Charles…
2 min readRecap and insight on the economy and your cash portfolio in 2023 After continuous increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve (“the Fed”) since March 2022, it seems we may have reached the inflection point and that the Fed may begin interest rate cuts starting in 2024. Watch our latest Quarterly Cash Update to…
16 min readCo-Authored by Pate Campbell, Analyst CFA Managing the Risks Posed by Tightening Financial Conditions DOWNLOAD REPORT Executive Summary Financial conditions are tightening, primarily as a byproduct of the Fed’s interest rate hiking cycle. This portends that households and businesses may be less supportive of economic growth than they have been in the post-Covid period. Households…
7 min readWhen will “revenge spending” exhaust consumers’ pandemic-era savings? What does this mean for consumption and growth? Introduction Excess savings have become a marque piece of economic outlooks, attempting to estimate when consumers’ “revenge spending” will exhaust bank accounts leading to a drop in consumption. However, Q3 2023’s 4.9% annualized GDP growth, most of which was…
13 min readAs the SEC’s MMF rule amendments come into effect in October 2023, investors looking to return to institutional prime funds may want to be aware of the pros and cons of these changes. DOWNLOAD REPORT Introduction Three years after a Covid-induced market panic that caused runs on prime money market funds (“MMFs”), the Securities and…
4 min readWhat is an Investment Policy Statement (IPS)? Investment Policy Statements (IPS) are written directives provided by investors to their investment managers that defines the objectives, policies, and guidelines governing the management and oversight of their portfolio. An IPS serves as an essential tool in dictating how an investor’s portfolio should be managed. An IPS should…
12 min readIntroduction Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of the United States coveted “AAA” credit rating to “AA+” on Tuesday, August 1st, 2023, drew an end to a minor mystery. The rating agency left U.S. sovereign debt on “Rating Watch Negative” after Congress agreed to suspend the debt limit just days before the x-date in June, citing “lower confidence…
3 min readWhat is Commercial Paper? Commercial paper (CP) is a type of short-term, unsecured debt instrument with a maturity of no more than 365 days. CP serves as an alternative to a business loan and is typically used by large corporations to finance their short-term operating needs such as accounts payable, payrolls and inventories. Generally speaking,…
7 min readCash investors looking to incorporate ESG face an interesting dilemma: Can you invest in oil majors while claiming to be an ESG investor? The answer may surprise you. Part 1: A Recent History of Energy The prominence of ESG investing has increased significantly in recent years, and nowhere has its impact been felt more than…