FICC Focus

Bloomberg Intelligence
  • 4.8 (29)
  • INVESTING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

FICC Focus offers the latest market views on interest rates, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, commodities, and currencies by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts.

  1. 12/29/2025

    Credit Crunch: NISA’s Eichhorn on Alpha and Liability Management

    “All alpha is excess return, not all excess return is alpha,” says NISA CEO and Head of Investment Strategies David Eichhorn when discussing the use of appropriate benchmarks to measure performance and beta masking as alpha. Eichhorn joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch to talk about hedging liabilities and utilizing derivative overlays, targeting high information ratios and being a liquidity provider, and the evolution in liability management. The current rate backdrop and funded status for defined benefit plans, as well as leverage costs for BDCs are also discussed. Pensions & Investments (P&I) rankings were based on U.S. institutional,tax-exempt assets managed internally (covered for overlay) as of December 31, 2024; published on June 16, 2025. NISA paid a standard fee to access the full set of data published by P&I. Other survey participants may have reported overlay strategies on a basis other than notional values and, as such, direct comparison and rankings may not be appropriate. Visit www.pionline.com for more details, including past rankings and methodology.

    1h 6m

  2. 12/22/2025

    FICC Focus Special: High Yield Outlook

    As part of Bloomberg Intelligence’s 2026 Fixed Income Markets Outlook: Opportunity Amid Policy Uncertainty event, this panel examines the outlook for junk bond yields and total returns, consumer health, the role of private credit and top sector picks. Stephen Flynn, senior telecom and media credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, moderates a discussion with Winnie Cisar, global head of strategy at CreditSights, John McClain, global co-head of high yield at Goldman Sachs and Meghan Robson, head of US credit strategy and desk analyst at BNP Paribas.

    27 min

  3. 12/19/2025

    FICC Focus Special: Panel Discusses Investment Grade Outlook

    This special edition of the FICC Focus podcast features the recording of a Dec. 4 panel discussion exploring investment grade spreads, issuance and strategies to outperform in the year ahead. Moderated by Rob Schiffman, senior technology and internet credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, the conversation features Meghan Graper, global head of debt capital markets at Barclays, Amanda Lynam, head of macro credit research at BlackRock, and Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at Lafayette College. The panel gathered as part of Bloomberg Intelligence’s 2026 Fixed Income Markets Outlook: Opportunity Amid Policy Uncertainty event.

    28 min

  4. 12/16/2025

    State of Distressed Debt: Latham's Sobolewski on Debtor Playbook

    “Ad hoc groups are decades old at this point. Co-ops are new. Since when do we have to promise to be friends? I think [co-ops] are inherently lame.” John Sobolewski, Partner and Global Chair of Latham & Watkins' Liability Management Practice, sat down with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Negisa Balluku and Philip Brendel at the Beard Group’s 2025 Distressed Investing Conference on Dec. 2. John shared his views on the LME landscape’s evolution and direction, jurisdictional considerations, and why he suspects the pervasiveness of cooperation agreements results from unhealthy lender distrust and advisers’ self-interest.

    39 min

  5. 12/15/2025

    Credit Crunch: KKR’s Pietrzak on Asset-Based Finance, AI Impact

    “There’s some articles out there that [suggest] once there’s losses, there could be a bunch of fire sales of assets ... not true,” says KKR Partner and Global Head of Private Credit Daniel Pietrzak when discussing misunderstandings about private credit markets. “We’ve got $131 billion of AUM. Almost none of that has any redemption feature.” Pietrzak joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch to talk about volatility, continued market growth – especially in asset-based finance – and strategic partnerships like the company’s recent deals with Harley-Davidson and PayPal. They also examine global opportunities, how AI factors into lending decisions and the benefits of diversification. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

    55 min

  6. 12/12/2025

    EM Lens: Event Risk Set to Rise Yet EM Should Still Outperform

    Event risk is poised to increase across the emerging-market fixed income landscape, as creditors must contend with elections in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Israel and Peru. Elina Theodorakopoulou, managing director and EM portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed income strategist, to decompose year-to-date performance in emerging-market debt and set performance targets for 2026. Theodorakopoulou and Sassower touch on topics ranging from fiscal spending and monetary stimulus to new issuance and credit rating migration.

    26 min

  7. 12/11/2025

    FICC Special: Harbor’s Litton Talks US Commercial Real Estate

    US commercial real estate is set to keep stabilizing in 2026 as liquidity improves and capitalization rates decline. Harbor Group International President Richard Litton joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief fixed-income strategist, Damian Sassower, to discuss his company’s approach to asset management amid an affordability crunch that shows no sign of abating in the year ahead. Litton and Sassower discuss the various loan types and financial structures that institutional investors can access across the US commercial real estate market.

    17 min

  8. 12/10/2025

    Credit Crunch: Around the World of Global Credit in 60 Minutes

    Global credit markets are tight, and strategic insights are essential looking into 2026. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence's global head of credit strategy, hosts BI's global credit strategy team to highlight worldwide research, data and views. Tim Tan and Jason Lee (Asia), Basel Al-Waqayan (Middle East), Reto Bachmann (Structured Finance), himself (Europe) and Sam Geier (US) share takeaways on their market outlook, relative value and major themes shaping their regions. Access their research on the Bloomberg Terminal at BI STRTA, BI STRTE, BI STRTN and BI EMFIG. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

    1h 5m
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4.8
out of 5
29 Ratings

About

FICC Focus offers the latest market views on interest rates, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, commodities, and currencies by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts.

Information

  • Creator
    Bloomberg Intelligence
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    492
  • Copyright
    © 628159

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