Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East
    • 2023 ESG Investing
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. INVESTING & PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES
June 07, 2016 01:00 AM

World's safest market beset by most volatility since 2008

Bloomberg
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The $1.5 trillion market for U.S. Treasury bills, known as an oasis of stability for investors worldwide, is experiencing the most volatility since the financial crisis.

    Daily swings in the government’s shortest-maturity obligations are widening as debate over the Federal Reserve’s path collides with rising demand for the securities before the implementation of regulations intended to make money-market funds safer.

    The gyrations underscore how it’s a precarious time for investors in bills and other instruments in the money market, which the Fed uses to implement policy changes. Asset managers looking to park cash in the short-term securities have to navigate officials’ efforts to normalize interest rates while also adapting to post-crisis rules.

    Skepticism toward the Fed’s plans to boost its overnight target, following liftoff from near zero in December, is fueling the volatility. Futures assign a 2% chance of an increase at officials’ June 14-15 gathering, and the probability doesn’t exceed a coin toss until December.

    “The Fed has hiked once already, so we are in a tightening cycle, but there is enough uncertainty about what that will look like,” said William Marshall, an interest-rate strategist in New York at Credit Suisse Group AG, one of the Fed’s 23 primary dealers. “The other big uncertainty, where there is still a lot of debate, is what is going to be the end state for front-end demand once the money-fund reforms go into effect.”

    Movement Flareup

    The daily gap between the one-month bill’s lowest and highest rates in 2016 has averaged 0.04 percentage point through June 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While that may not seem like much, it’s the most intraday movement for the comparable period since 2008, and wider than in the five-month span leading up to the December liftoff.

    In March, policy makers projected two hikes this year, and they’ll update that forecast next week. Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Monday called additional gradual rate increases appropriate, without specifying timing. She said weaker-than-forecast May jobs data were “disappointing,” while cautioning against giving too much significance to one monthly report.

    “This is going to be one of those where the market prices in one hike at a time,” said Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy at Societe Generale SA, another primary dealer. “That adds to volatility in the front end, which is what you see in the bill complex.”

    The pickup in fluctuations for one-month bills, which yielded about 0.18% Tuesday, still leaves volatility far short of what it was during the financial crisis. The average daily swing in 2008 was 0.17 percentage point for the maturity, at a time when the Fed was slashing rates to support the economy.

    Regulatory Trigger

    This year, the adoption of new regulations is at play as well.

    On Oct. 14, Securities and Exchange Commission rules take effect that may lead investors to shift into money-market funds focused on government debt, from prime funds, which typically buy commercial paper. The new regulations mandate that institutional prime funds report prices that fluctuate, rather than sticking to $1 per share. The measures also allow fund companies to use steps such as redemption fees to prevent runs in times of panic.

    Amid all the changes, which have already led many money-market companies to alter their offerings, institutional investors may pull about $400 billion from prime funds, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. predicted in the first quarter.

    The combination of fluctuating Fed bets and purchases of bills related to regulatory changes will spur volatility, said Jerome Schneider, head of short-term portfolio management at Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co., which oversees $1.5 trillion.

    “Until these stimuli become reconciled and resolved, we may continue to see relative repricing a normal event in this sector,” he said.

    Related Articles
    Investors fleeing $9 trillion of negative yields fuel bond binge
    Intermediate-term bonds continue to top the list
    J.P. Morgan Asset, PIMCO sweet on company debt as Treasuries lag
    Treasuries retain investor faith into $20 billion of new supply
    PIMCO Total Return adds Treasuries as global bond market surges
    Recommended for You
    More funds testing water on crypto-related assets
    More funds testing water on crypto-related assets
    Money managers eager to make leap to opportunity zone investing
    Money managers eager to make leap to opportunity zone investing
    Index investing: Not as passive as you might think
    Index investing: Not as passive as you might think
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    Sponsored Content: Research for Institutional Money Management

    Reader Poll

    January 25, 2023
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    The Future of Infrastructure: Building a Better Tomorrow
    Fulcrum Issues: Equity Returns and Inflation — Choose Your Own Adventure
    What Matters Most in Considering a Private Debt Strategy
    Why pursue direct lending in the core middle market?
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    Are Factors a Thing of the Past?
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East
      • 2023 ESG Investing