State Street Investment Management

Financial markets have continued their recent rally. In Europe, the market strength has been driven by a weak euro, which softened following the recent European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and which has subsequently caused Europe-based exporters to rally.

A confluence of factors has brightened the prospects for the financials sector, and investors have taken note. The sector could stand to benefit from rising bond yields as a result of improved margins, while an improving economic backdrop and potential deregulation could provide further support.

This document presents a brief comparison of two key euro high yield benchmarks: the Bloomberg Barclays Liquidity Screened Euro HY and the Markit iBoxx EUR Liquid High Yield Index.

With our ‘yield thermometer’, investors can easily discover how each ETF in our Fixed Income range stacks up as measured by yield to worst.

How can investors navigate challenging markets? Here are five charts that may help, covering trends in interest rates, market volatility, breadth, credit and style.

In this paper, we explore the characteristics of convertible bonds, the asymmetry of bonds’ return profile, how they behave in a rising rate environment, and how they can be used as an important tool for managing investor portfolios, both large and small.

Dividend indices are predicated upon a range of criteria. These criteria can vary, and not surprisingly the differences can have an impact on the performance of different indices.