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November 14, 2016 at 05:45 AM
Investors’ long-held worries about low yields and limited investment income have now given way to expectations of rising inflation and higher interest rates.
Interest rates, which had been rising since July, took off immediately after last week’s election, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield from 1.83% at Monday’s market close to 2.07% on Wednesday, after Donald Trump emerged the winner.
Monday morning the 10-year Treasury yield was trading at 2.25%, capping the biggest weekly jump in yields since the 2013 “taper tantrum,” when yields surged suddenly on news that the Federal Reserve was about to taper its QE bond purchases.
This time markets reacted to Trump’s pledges to boost infrastructure spending and cut taxes, which could boost growth as well as deficits—both seen as catalysts for higher inflation and inflation expectations. In addition, Trump’s campaign threats to impose double-digit tariffs against Chinese (45%) and Mexican imports (35%), if realized, would add to inflation expectations.
Karissa McDonough, chief fixed income strategist at People’s United Wealth Management, calls the post-election rise in yields a “paradigm shift.”
“We felt very strongly even before the election that inflation was rising, says Terry Simpson, multi-asset investment strategist for BlackRock’s Global Investment Strategy team. “And now we support that position even more.”
In addition, says Simpson, there is now an “implicit” coordination between Trump and Fed Chair Janet Yellen to shoot for higher inflation. Yellen and the Fed more generally have been targeting a 2% annual inflation rate but Simpson says the Fed may be willing to let inflation rate run “a little higher. We’re telling clients 2% is not the ceiling.”
There are several ways for investors to adjust their portfolios to take advantage of this outlook for rising inflation, which will provide higher yields and income, but simultaneously depress the prices of fixed-rate bonds that have lower-than-current yields.
TIPS
“If we are correct that inflation is going to rise, TIPS are also an under-owned asset class, with $8 billion inflows year-to-date,” Simpson said.
Maybe so, but since the beginning of November, just days before the historic election of a president with no experience in government, the military or public service, investors poured a net $1.45 billion into the iShares TIPS (Treasury inflation-protected securities) Bond ETF (TIP), the largest TIPS ETF, according to Morningstar.
TIPS have been outperforming ordinary Treasury notes and bonds this year. Through Friday, the Barclays TIPS index gained 7.3% while the Barclays U.S. Treasury Index rose 2.3%, according to Bloomberg.
Investors can buy TIPS ETFs or TIPS mutual funds or even individual TIPS from the U.S. Treasury via its Treasury Direct service. Among the top-performing TIPS mutual funds this year, according to Morningstar, are the institutional shares of DFA LTIP Portfolio (DRXIX), up over 12%, the PIMCO Real Return Asset Fund (PRAIX) and the Columbia Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (CIPZX), both up well over 9%.
