Investors Binge on Convertible Bonds as Issuance Soars

Traditionally issued by high-growth companies, these securities have drawn tourism and travel companies who need to raise cash Source: WSJ Companies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic flooded the market this year with the most convertible bonds since 2007. Investors who scooped up these securities have been rewarded with strong returns. Travel and hospitality companies including…

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Case Study: Buy-Side Algo Credit Trading

Credit and Rates Trading Workflow Automation Vest Execution Pricing and Liquidity Risk Analytics Overview and Current Process Buy-side asset managers are rapidly embracing artificial intelligence applications to price fixed income securities algorithmically in live trading execution environment or for purposes of end of day reconciliation and portfolio construction. The current fixed income capital market data…

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Buy-side lags behind sell-side in adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence

Buy-side firms are falling behind the sell-side in the bid to scale up adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, according to an in-depth report from Refinitiv. Source: The TRADE Refinitiv polled 120 asset managers and found 28% had deployed ML and AI in multiple areas, describing it as core to their…

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Smart Order Routing (SOR): The Next Frontier in Fixed Income Trading Automation

SOR has been enabling automation in equities asset class for two decades. It’s now poised to enhance the bond market Increases in fixed income electronic trading volumes have driven enhancements in trading desk operations over the previous five years, making the lives of traders easier in today’s natively digital world. Trading workflow enhancements, however, that…

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JPMorgan Asset Says to Pick Corporate Debt Over Stocks in Near Term

Investors should focus more on corporate bonds than stocks in the near-term given the recent resurgence in the pandemic and political uncertainty in the U.S., according to JPMorgan Asset Management. Source: Bloomberg There’s “room for more consolidation in global equities,” Tai Hui, the $2.3 trillion asset manager’s chief Asia market strategist wrote in a note….

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Buy-side fights back against primary market pressure

Source: The Desk As new platforms promise to increase efficiency in bond issuance, buy-side firms are looking for leverage to drive change, and not only through technology. The US debt markets had issued US$1.92 trillion of bonds by September 2020, with US$1.4 trillion raised in the first half alone, according to Refinitiv data. That peaked…

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Corporate Bond Trading Seen Lacking Key Data in Electronic Era

Source: Bloomberg Corporate bond market participants should provide more granular data when they report trades to give dealers additional insight into their clients and investors a better understanding of where liquidity is, according to a report from research firm Greenwich Associates. New standards are necessary as electronification intensifies the need for greater transparency, according to…

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Is Fixed Income Ready for Pre-Trade Analytics?

Source: Markets Media Over the past few years, regulatory and competitive pressures have driven a steady rise in the adoption of transaction cost analysis (TCA) in the fixed income space. Market participants are under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate best execution, manage outliers and review their own performance. Primarily, participants have turned to post-trade analytics to…

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Canada, U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand only major bond markets now without negative rates — if they go, we’re in trouble

With Canada, US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand the only major bond markets without negative rates there lies a great threat to the financial system should these remaining major markets dip into negative territory. Although former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan does not see this as “that big of a deal” investors would certainly take the…

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