Remain agile in bond selection, with an eye on last mile inflation
Though the US economy and consumers appear to have largely defied the "gravitational pull" of significantly tighter monetary policy, we continue to view the risk of a recession during 2024 as higher than normal. We expect that such a recessionary scenario would lead to significantly greater interest rate cuts, while the "no landing" scenario of more persistent inflation would delay the start of rate cuts. As developed economy central banks continue to grapple with when to start normalizing local monetary policy, now could be an interesting time for investors to strengthen their portfolios by extending the duration of their fixed income portfolios and raising credit quality and liquidity profiles while carefully weighing global opportunities.