Leveraged loans have overtaken U.S. high-yield bonds in market size, reaching $1.5tn, yet remain underexplored by some investors. Marco Pouw, Director of Fixed Income Indices at S&P Dow Jones, explained that these loans, often issued to highly leveraged or credit-challenged firms, offer attractive yields and structural protections, such as collateral over corporate assets. Over decades, the S&P UBS Leveraged Loan Index returned 68%, narrowly trailing the iBoxx Global Developed Markets High Yield Index.

Tung Ming of Bivium Capital Partners highlighted a shift in how managers should engage allocators, emphasizing efficiency over flashy presentations. At the Fin Forum Conference in Frisco, Texas, Ming stressed that “everyone’s time is valuable,” advocating for email as the primary method for initial outreach. Passive engagement, such as whitepapers, newsletters, or updates, keeps managers within an allocator’s orbit without requiring direct meetings.

Index-linked products have transformed trading ecosystems, fostering 24-hour price discovery and efficiency across equities and fixed income, with S&P 500 volumes alone hitting $273tn in 2024. As S&P Dow Jones Indices' Anu Ganti explains, this network effect benefits active and passive users alike: futures and ETFs enable overnight event pricing, while arbitragers minimize mispricings through derivative combinations, inspiring confidence in benchmark tracking.

Savvy Wealth distinguishes itself as a dual-purpose entity, blending technology prowess with registered investment advisory services to empower independent advisors amid evolving client demands. As CIO Anshul Sharma highlights, the platform integrates digital automation for onboarding, reporting, and compliance with human specialists for nuanced guidance, freeing advisors from up to 20 hours of weekly admin drudgery.

Asset TV's ETF Editor in Chief Kristin Myers joined CBS News to discuss what to expect from the November jobs report.

Source: What to expect from November jobs report

Government shutdowns, while sparking short-term jitters, have proven largely inconsequential for investors, with markets averaging a 2.2% gain over the 40 days surrounding events since 1990. As Raymond James' Kim Inglis notes, pre-shutdown volatility often reflects anticipation rather than fundamentals, but post-event rebounds typically erase dips, underscoring resilience in democratic policy flux.

Private credit stands at a pivotal expansion, with BlackRock forecasting the $2.1tn market will surpass $4.5tn by 2030, more than doubling amid untapped demand from over 44,000 private firms across the U.S., EU, and UK generating $40tn in revenues above $100m thresholds.

Franklin Templeton has unveiled a suite of core equity funds targeting Canadian, U.S., and international markets, extending internally proven strategies to retail and institutional investors in Canada. Developed 5 - 6 years ago to stabilize multi-asset portfolios, these systematic funds replace volatile blends of passive and high-active-share vehicles with controlled tracking error, balancing alpha potential against benchmark risk.

Portfolio Manager Bill Nygren of Harris | Oakmark believes value investing is regaining relevance after a decade in the shadows. According to Nygren, the current market presents an unusually attractive landscape for value investors, with wide valuation spreads and many quality businesses trading well below long-term averages, particularly outside the technology sector.

Private credit has traditionally been synonymous with direct lending, private loans to sponsor-backed companies outside the banking system. But that narrow lens is rapidly widening. Investors are now tapping into a much broader universe of private credit, encompassing asset-backed finance, opportunistic credit, infrastructure lending, and more.

In an economic climate defined by uncertainty, market volatility, and geopolitical shocks, insurance portfolio managers are finding themselves in increasingly complex territory. But at Guggenheim Investments, this environment is far from uncharted. With the majority of their assets under supervision serving insurance companies, their investment philosophy is firmly rooted in resilience and long-term stewardship.

The recent thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions and the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance have become pivotal themes for investors navigating an increasingly complex market landscape. Jack Janasiewicz, lead portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, and Brian Hess, investment strategist, unpack the implications for equities and economic growth in their latest discussion.