All Eyes on Interest Rates

Yesterday, Bates Research Group launched "Fixed Income Month," the details of which appear below. As we noted in an announcement to our clients, the Federal Reserve meeting this month may usher in a new cycle of rising interest rates. After our announcement went out, the IMF urged the Fed not to raise interest rates, for the sake of global economic stability. Cognizant of the reaction (the so-called ”taper tantrum”) markets went through after the Fed announced the end of quantitative easing, they are hoping to avoid any other market shocks in the face of slowing global growth. Given the timely nature of our release, we thought we would share it with our blog readers as well. If you'd like to receive the additional papers mentioned below, please contact inquiries@batesgroupllc.com.

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 In continuing with our tradition of providing timely thought leadership pieces to our valued clients, we are proud to announce that we will be dedicating the month of June to the topic of fixed income. Every Thursday this month, Bates Group will release another White Paper centered around issues that impact investors in the fixed income marketspace. We are pleased to provide these pieces to you, written by Bates experts, on such a key area of the current investment universe. After years of extremely low yields, we may finally be reaching a point at which the Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates once again. This may potentially cause a large dislocation within fixed income markets, and with high-profile regulators such as the SEC and FINRA both listing interest-rate sensitive securities as examination priorities, there will certainly need to be an awareness of risks that may have accumulated in investors' portfolios.

June 4 - Expert Greg Kyle discusses Credit Ratings, what they mean, how they are used, and how they are provided by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The first installment piece can be found here.

June 11 - Expert Stephen Behnke explains the advantages and disadvantages of investing in bond funds versus investing directly in bonds themselves, and some of the considerations that investors and advisers must take into account in making that allocation decision.

June 18 and June 25 - In a two-part paper, Expert Marshall Kneeland discusses the pitfalls that investors have faced trying to find yield in a low yield environment, and how searching for increased yield may have changed the risks their portfolios are facing as a result.