Third Quarter Total Return Outlook
Published on July 14, 2023
The economy has held up remarkably well despite the Fed’s tightening program, but with two more hikes likely in 2023, the risk of a slowdown remains elevated.
Take a Hike
After a strong first quarter, the investment grade bond market treaded water in the second quarter. Treasury yields rose as there was some contagion following the bank failures in the first quarter as well as weakness in commercial real estate. This could become a problem for smaller regional banks, who also suffered most in the first quarter, as they tend to have relatively large exposures to commercial real estate. As they say, more news at 11.
The Federal Reserve continues down its path of steadying the ship in a sea of volatility that it largely created for itself. So far, so good – in recent weeks risk appetite has improved (outside of commercial real estate), lending to a narrative that any slowdown the economy may face will be relatively mild – if it happens at all. Corporate spreads ended June near their tightest levels of the year, with enviable equity performance to match. Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) have also improved as volatility has declined, though they remain vulnerable to a rise in rates as evidenced in May, when nominal spreads reached their widest levels in over a decade.
Against this backdrop, the Fed says it expects to raise rates at each of its next two meetings (for a total of 50 basis points). Recent -data substantiate the resilience of the economy against the 500-basis-point increase in rates over the past 18 months. For every weak manufacturing survey that is published, we find evidence of a relatively robust job market, remarkable strength in the housing market (despite lack of affordability), and diminishing inflation expectations that are contributing to a rise in consumer confidence.
On the topic of inflation, headline inflation is falling – but not fast enough for the Fed’s liking. Our favored inflation measure, the Underlying Inflation Gauge, continues to decline precipitously toward 3%, and it appears on pace to reach 2% by the fall. The real question, at this point, is whether the explosive growth in M2 money supply during the pandemic (the “printing money days”) contributes to a higher forward inflation path that will be more difficult for the Fed to combat. Time will tell.
Looking forward, we remain relatively constructive on duration as yield levels remain compelling for a longer-term investment. We continue to favor MBS over investment grade corporates at the former’s relatively wide spread levels. While the economy feels strong here and now, it has not proven to be able to withstand this level of the fed funds target rate in this century.
We appreciate your continued confidence in our management and will continue to focus on the areas of the market that we believe can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns over time.
Eddy Vataru
Chief Investment Officer – Total Return
John Sheehan
Vice President & Portfolio Manager
Daniel Oh
Vice President & Portfolio Manager
Featuring
Eddy Vataru
Chief Investment Officer – Total Return
Prior to joining Osterweis Capital Management in 2016, Eddy Vataru worked in senior management positions at Incapture, LLC and Citadel, LLC. Before that he spent over 11 years at BlackRock (formerly Barclays Global Investors, BGI), where his last position was as Managing Director and Head of U.S. Rates and Mortgages. While in this role, BGI worked with the U.S. Treasury in implementing its Agency MBS Purchase Program, buying mortgages for the U.S. government from 2008-2009.
He is a principal of the firm and the lead Portfolio Manager for the total return fixed income strategy.
Mr. Vataru graduated from California Institute of Technology (B.S. in Chemistry & Economics) and from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis (M.B.A.). Mr. Vataru holds the CFA designation.
John Sheehan
Vice President & Portfolio Manager
Prior to joining Osterweis Capital Management in 2018, John Sheehan spent more than 20 years working at Citigroup, first as Managing Director responsible for Investment Grade Syndicate in New York City, where he advised issuers on accessing funding in the corporate bond market. Later at Citigroup, he was Managing Director in charge of West Coast Investment Grade Sales in San Francisco, where he covered several of the largest U.S. investment grade credit investors.
He is a principal of the firm and a Portfolio Manager for the total return fixed income strategy.
Mr. Sheehan graduated from Georgetown University (B.A. in Economics). Mr. Sheehan holds the CFA designation.
Daniel Oh
Vice President & Portfolio Manager
Prior to joining Osterweis Capital Management in 2018, Daniel Oh spent over eight years as a Director at Estabrook Capital Management in New York City and was the lead Portfolio Manager of the Estabrook Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund. Before that he was at Merrill Lynch & Co. as an Associate in Prime/Alt-A-Non-Agency Mortgage Trading. Prior to that, he held positions at Seneca Financial Group and Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Oh’s professional history includes experience in investment grade corporate credit, non-agency and whole loan mortgages, structured credit, and distressed investments.
He is a principal of the firm and a Portfolio Manager for the total return fixed income strategy.
Mr. Oh graduated from Columbia University (B.A. in Economics/Political Science) and from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (M.B.A.).
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The fed funds rate is the rate at which depository institutions (banks) lend their reserve balances to other banks on an overnight basis.
A basis point is a unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1%.
The Underlying Inflation Gauge (UIG) captures sustained movements in inflation from information contained in a broad set of price, real activity, and financial data.
Investment grade bonds are those with high and medium credit quality as determined by ratings agencies.
Duration measures the sensitivity of a fixed income security’s price to changes in interest rates. Fixed income securities with longer durations generally have more volatile prices than those of comparable quality with shorter durations.
Treasuries are securities sold by the federal government to consumers and investors to fund its operations. They are all backed by “the full faith and credit of the United States government” and thus are considered free of default risk.
A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security that is secured by a mortgage or collection of mortgages.
Spread is the difference in yield between a risk-free asset such as a Treasury bond and another security with the same maturity but of lesser quality.
M2 is a measure of the money supply that includes cash, checking deposits, and other types of deposits that are readily convertible to cash such as CDs.
Osterweis Capital Management is the adviser to the Osterweis Funds, which are distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC. [OSTE-20230710-0926]
