Skip to main content
TOOLS
Login to access your documents and resources.
Confirm your location
location select
language select
Fixed income

Rising rates? Senior loans may be the answer ...

Anders S. Persson
Chief Investment Officer, Head of Nuveen Global Fixed Income
Multiple charts and graphs on a screen

As investors continue to position for higher interest rates, even with growing geopolitical concern, one asset class in particular continues to get a lot of attention: floating rate senior corporate loans. When we consider their fundamental characteristics, this is not surprising.

Due to the interest rates on loans being, generally, tied to a 1- or 3-month reference rate, the asset class has effectively zero duration. As our CIO Saira Malik wrote in her recent commentary, in a time of rising rates duration is a key characteristic to consider when examining fixed income asset classes. With their floating rate coupon structure, loans instead are basically a pure form of credit risk. As such, loans are well positioned against a backdrop of continued economic growth and the higher interest rates that are likely to follow. The loan asset class is also nearly entirely dominated by U.S.-based issuers with U.S.-oriented businesses, which may prove beneficial given concerns overseas. As a result, the asset class has seen strong demand since the beginning of 2021, which has continued despite recently elevated volatility. Given that strong demand, valuations in loans make credit selection as important as ever, though the recent volatility has created some new opportunities. In our opinion, for income-oriented investors looking to allocate capital into a rising rate environment loans could well be a powerful part of the solution, if troubled credits and defaults can be avoided.

Loans have proven resilient

In 2021, the market saw volatility in both the front and back end of the yield curve. Throughout this period, loans remained remarkably stable considering the volatility seen by other fixed income asset classes. Even high yield bonds, which are less duration sensitive than investment grade bonds, and are close to a hybrid equity-fixed income asset class, have oscillated in response to moves in the rate market.

The stability of senior loans is arguably what investors should be most focused on. Somewhat coincidentally, despite different volatility profiles, loans and high yield bonds ended 2021 with nearly identical total returns. So far in 2022, however, high yield has again seen significant volatility. This time it is being caused by a combination of the threat of higher rates and also geopolitical uncertainty. Loans, again, have been quite resilient.

Download to read more

Related articles
EQuilibrium Equilibrium | Will infrastructure deliver for investors?
Investment outlook 2023 4Q GIC outlook: Stay in the game
While concerns around inflation, monetary policy, and recession continue, an important variable has changed: We are now further along in the economic cycle, with the game clock running down.
Weekly Commentary Treasury yields rise as the Fed holds steady
U.S. Treasury yields rose again on strong inflation data. The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged as expected, but the guidance for future policy was more hawkish than anticipated.
Contact us
Our offices
London skyline
London
201 Bishopsgate, London, United Kingdom
Endnotes

Sources

Gross Domestic Product: U.S. Department of Commerce; Treasury Yields and Ratios: Bloomberg (subscription required); Municipal Bond Yields: Municipal Market Data; ICI Fund Flows: http://www.ici.org/research/stats; Municipal Issuance: Seibert Research; Defaults: Municipals Weekly, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Research, July 7, 2017; State Revenues: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, State Revenue Report, June 2017; State Budget Reserves: Pew Charitable Trust. Global Growth: International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Standard & Poor’s and Investortools: http://www.invtools.com/; Flow of Funds, The Federal Reserve Board: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/Z1/Current/z1.pdf; Payroll Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Bond Ratings: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch; New Money Project Financing: The Bond Buyer; Consumer Price Index: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CPIAUCNS; State of Connecticut Fiscal Year 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report; State of Connecticut Annual Information Statement; State of California Official Statement dated March 6, 2018; Moody’s Analytics, California, April 2, 2018; BLS.gov; State of California, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, FYE June 30, 2017; New Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico, Restoring Growth and Prosperity, April 2018; Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board hearing on April 19, 2018; The Bond Buyer, Governor’s opposition to Puerto Rico fiscal plan could end up in court, April 20, 2018

The views and opinions expressed are for informational and educational purposes only as of the date of production/writing and may change without notice at any time based on numerous factors, such as market or other conditions, legal and regulatory developments, additional risks and uncertainties and may not come to pass. This material may contain “forward-looking” information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections, forecasts, estimates of market returns, and proposed or expected portfolio composition. Any changes to assumptions that may have been made in preparing this material could have a material impact on the information presented herein by way of example. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk; principal loss is possible.

All information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such.

Glossary

One basis point equals .01%, or 100 basis points equal 1%. The Municipal Market Data AAA scales are compilations of the previous day’s actual trades for AAA-rated insured bonds. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) deflator indicates the average increase in prices for all domestic personal consumption. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst ® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

A word on risk

All investments carry a certain degree of risk and there is no assurance that an investment will provide positive performance over any period of time. Investing in municipal bonds involves risks such as interest rate risk, credit risk and market risk, including the possible loss of principal. The value of the portfolio will fluctuate based on the value of the underlying securities. There are special risks associated with investments in high yield bonds, hedging activities and the potential use of leverage. Portfolios that include lower rated municipal bonds, commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds, which are considered to be speculative, the credit and investment risk is heightened for the portfolio. Bond insurance guarantees only the payment of principal and interest on the bond when due, and not the value of the bonds themselves, which will fluctuate with the bond market and the financial success of the issuer and the insurer. No representation is made as to an insurer’s ability to meet their commitments.

Back to Top