Macro optimism is surging, with 23% of investors saying they expect a “boom” (above trend growth and inflation) compared to 1% one year ago. Meanwhile, 43% said they expect “secular stagnation” (below trend growth and inflation), down sharply from 88% one year ago...

Large institutional investors are set to put cash to work in 2017, a BlackRock survey has found. One in four (25%) institutions surveyed intend to decrease their cash allocations during the year, nearly twice as many as those who plan to increase their cash holdings (13%).

According to Tarek Issaoui, Head of Cross Asset Flexible Solutions at THEAM, coming months and years will most probably see more differentiation between the performance of flexible funds. As diversification benefits become less important, drawdown management will develop into a key element of underperformance or outperformance over the peer group.

This product, launched in 2012, uses a long-only investment strategy applied to a multi-asset universe, including equities, sovereign and corporate bonds (in both emerging and developed markets) and commodities through liquid instruments. Implementation of the strategy increases diversification by building exposures to traditional and alternative risk premia...

T-note yields have had a somewhat volatile week. The yield on 10y notes traded as low as 2.30% before closing last week at 2.40%. Short positioning in US bonds has normalized thanks in part to successful auctions.