Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly
Confluence Investment Management offers various asset allocation products which are managed using “top down,” or macro, analysis. We publish asset allocation thoughts on a bi-weekly basis, updating the piece every other Monday.
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – The Case for New Home Sales (May 22, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF A common topic among the financial markets is the impact of rapid monetary policy tightening. After years of accommodative monetary policy, the spike in inflation caused by the pandemic has continued to persist. To address the inflation issue, the FOMC has lifted the policy target rate at the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Why We Are Keeping Duration Short (May 8, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Financial markets are complicated, and when faced with complication, there is an incentive to simplify. This simplification process takes on several forms, including narratives, bromides, adages, etc. Even the modeling process is a form of simplification. Sayings like “don’t fight the Fed” or “cash is trash” are often… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – The Fed’s Employment Surprise (April 24, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF This is the tightest labor market for Black Americans in U.S. history. The Black unemployment rate fell to an all-time low in March unsurpassed since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began a separate calculation for Black workers in 1972. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate for Black Americans… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Increasing Concerns About Commercial Real Estate (April 10, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Last month’s failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB, $106.04) showed that the institution had vulnerabilities in both its assets and its liabilities. On the asset side of its balance sheet, the bank had too much exposure to longer-maturity government bonds, which depreciated sharply as the Federal Reserve aggressively… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Have Policymakers Solved the Tinbergen Problem? (March 27, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Central banking was initially created to address commercial bank runs. Commercial banks engage in a liquidity transformation, where they accept deposits, which are mostly available on demand, and turn that liquidity into less-liquid assets, usually loans or securities. Bank revenue comes from capturing this liquidity premium as less-liquid… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – The Importance of the Policy Mix (March 13, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Based on the strong U.S. economic data so far this year, investors have again become worried that the Federal Reserve will continue to hike interest rates aggressively and keep them high for a prolonged period. We agree that is a significant risk, and the rate hikes to date… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Federal Reserve Policymakers in 2023: Hawks or Doves? (February 27, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF The Federal Reserve surprised markets when it raised its benchmark fed funds interest rate by a total of 450 bps in 2022, the most rapid increase in over 40 years. Weighed down by technology stocks, equities had their first annual decline in over a decade. The weak stock… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Reflections on Inflation (February 13, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF [Note: There will be no accompanying podcast with this report.] Several advisors and their clients have been asking questions about inflation, which suggests there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding the issue. This uncertainty is understandable as inflation is a very complicated subject and, unfortunately, economic theory has… Read More »
Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly – Secular Trends In Bond Yields (January 30, 2023)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF [Note: The podcast that accompanies this report will be posted later this week.] Secular trends in markets are trends that have an extended life. Their length can be different across various markets, but they are usually measured in years and sometimes decades. It is not uncommon for shorter-term… Read More »