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Primary market and trading activity may be declining as is typical in late December, but macro data doesn’t sleep, and central banks haven’t got the memo on the wind-down into year-end either with policy meetings at the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of England (BoE) scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Spread tightening has left some market participants nervous about fixed income valuations going into 2025, but we think the drivers of recent credit performance are unlikely to weaken materially in the coming months.

With analysts steadily publishing their projections for 2025 (ours are here), the macro variables that tend to get the spotlight are naturally growth and inflation.

With a macro backdrop of falling rates and solid global growth, TwentyFour Asset Management's Eoin Walsh says fixed income investors can expect healthy total returns in 2025.

Last week, members of TwentyFour’s asset-backed securities (ABS) portfolio management team were in Dana Point, California for the Opal Group CLO Summit, an annual event with over 2,000 participants made up of investors, bankers, CLO managers, service providers and lawyers.

An otherwise fairly uneventful year for the UK banking sector has occasionally been dented by headlines concerning the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) investigation into motor finance commission arrangements.

As most analysts expected, the French parliament on Wednesday brought the metaphorical guillotine down on Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government. The no-confidence motion, brought by an alliance of left-wing parties while Barnier was attempting to pass a budget, was supported by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party.

With fresh uncertainty surrounding the path for interest rate cuts, we believe the high current income and typically lower volatility offered by European asset-backed securities (ABS) and Collateralised Loan Obligations (CLOs) make them an attractive allocation option for this stage of the cycle.

It is important to understand the historical context behind “global” capital rules, and why they differ for EU and US banks.

An asset-backed finance (ABF) investment backed by a portfolio of Dutch unsecured consumer loans originated by Qander Consumer Finance.

Thanksgiving week is usually a lighter one when it comes to data releases in the US. Apart from a PCE and core PCE inflation numbers that came in line with expectations at 2.3% and 2.8% respectively, there has not been much data to move the dial. In Europe, on the other hand, there have been a few data releases and central banker interviews that are worth commenting on.

Real estate, and in particular real estate investment trusts (REITs), was one of the first sectors to come under market scrutiny as interest rates rose, but a strong return to market from Swedish real estate company Heimstaden on Tuesday was the latest sign that expected rate cuts in Europe are easing pressure on the industry.