Financial debt is now high-yield debt

Valuations of financial instruments have plummeted since the start of the year, leaving investors wondering whether a wave of bank write offs – be it from exposure to the energy sector or to fast deteriorating Emerging Markets – is about to start hitting some lenders. In our opinion, this fear has simply been the trigger … Continued

Decoupling, or converging to the new normal?

During the past 10 years we have heard competing narratives about the existing degree of synchronization between emerging and developed economies: from talking back in 2008 about the “decoupling” of emerging economies from the US subprime crisis, to defending the “insularity” of the US economy against foreign shocks, particularly those arising from a slowdown in … Continued