Viewpoints

High Yield: Strong Tailwinds, But It May be a Bumpy Ride

High yield has a number of supportive tailwinds at its back—from a more manageable default picture and less exposure to potentially rising rates to investors’ continued demand for yield. But uncertainties remain, suggesting a potentially bumpy path to recovery.

IG Credit: Can the Strong Performance Continue?

After a rollercoaster year, IG corporate credit ended on a high note. But all eyes are on the months ahead, and whether we could see a reversal of some of the trends that buoyed the asset class in 2020.

CLOs: Cautious Optimism

Coming off a tumultuous year, CLOs look well-positioned going forward—particularly if the economy continues to heal and rates move higher.

Short View - 3 min read

Private Credit: How Healthy is Today's Middle Market?

Barings’ Jon Bock weighs in on the current dynamics driving today’s private credit markets from deal activity, to leverage metrics, to spread levels, and discusses the pro’s and con’s of investment structures from public and private BDCs to commingled funds.

Podcast - 43 min listen

Conversations - 6 min read

How Healthy is Today's Private Credit Market?

Barings’ Jon Bock weighs in on the dynamics shaping private credit today—from deal activity, to leverage metrics, to spread levels—and discusses how investors can access the opportunity.

Three Reasons Loans May Be Poised for Strong Performance

It’s not as simple as ‘when rates rise buy loans; when rates fall buy bonds.’ Indeed, a combination of several factors has set the stage for loans to potentially deliver attractive total returns going forward.

Insights - 6 min read

The Case for European Real Estate Debt

The supportive pricing fundamentals in the European real estate market, and low leverage relative to previous property cycles, suggest the asset class is well-positioned to withstand the impact of the pandemic.

Insights - 7 min read

Conversations - 9 min read

2021 Outlook: The Uneven Recovery

The recovery in many ways looks real and durable—but it also looks uneven and, in some cases, quite unpredictable. In this discussion, investment professionals from the public and private markets discuss where they expect to see risks and opportunities in the year ahead.

2021 Outlook: The Uneven Recovery

Listen as Barings' portfolio managers and investment professionals discuss the cyclical and structural trends expected to shape public and private markets in 2021 & beyond.

Podcast - 40 min listen

Value-Add Beyond the Pandemic

The shock provided by the global pandemic has roiled real estate markets around the world—which means that the quality and location of properties has never been more important.

Insights - 6 min read

U.S. Real Estate Research Quarterly

Although the U.S. economy bounced back sharply in the third quarter, the near-term path for the economy and real estate markets remains highly dependent on progress toward a medical solution to COVID and the degree of further lockdowns. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in.

Insights - 11 min read

European Real Estate Research Quarterly

While COVID has negatively impacted the retail and hotel sectors, the logistics and residential sectors have been much less affected. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in on the opportunity set—and why the overall outlook remains positive.

Insights - 8 min read

Real Estate Debt: Europe’s Developing Opportunity

Barings Real Estate’s Sam Mellor describes the trends underpinning the structural growth of real estate debt in Europe, and compares and contrasts the asset class with other public and private fixed income alternatives.

Podcast - 34 min listen

Equities

Why Tech Bubble Fears are Overdone

The tech sector’s impressive performance and increasing concentration in indexes has led to concerns of expensive valuations—with some fearing that we could be in bubble territory. In our view, such worries are not justified, and we believe tech’s outlook remains healthy.

Insights - 5 min read

CLOs: A Bias Toward Quality

CLOs continued their rebound in the third quarter, but the potential for volatility going forward is high. In this environment, there may be benefits to moving up in quality.

Short View - 3 min read

EMD: A Strong Tailwind, But Risks on the Horizon

Segments of the EM debt market have been bright spots in fixed income this year. Will EMs outperform DMs in the months ahead—or are the risks too great? It may come down to country and credit selection.

IG Credit: Upgrading the Roster

In a landscape rife with risk, there may be benefits to upgrading both credit quality and liquidity.