Rocky Ride for Equity Investors at the End of 2018

The fourth quarter saw volatility return with a vengeance, especially in December. While economic worries played a role, a government shutdown, continued trade rhetoric, and broad-based risk aversion also fueled the sell-off

Structured Fixed Income vs. Derivatives: The Key Differences

In order to provide clarity about what can be an alphabet soup of names (CMBS? VIX?), this blog post provides an overview of how Callan categorizes two types of investment vehicles: structured fixed income products and derivatives.

Vexing Volatility

Market volatility spiked in February, coinciding with declines for broad equity and fixed income indices. Callan surveyed leading multi-asset class (MAC) strategy providers to understand how the products reacted in this newly volatile environment.

Last Year, Not Last Week, Was Unusual

By Mark Andersen and Jay Kloepfer The S&P 500 entered correction territory last week, plunging more than 10 percent in five trading days after volatility exploded on Feb. 2. Investors betting on continuing low volatility saw big losses, and markets around the globe shuddered in response. As last week lurched along, with sharp reversals on […]

Sanguine Sentiment Fuels Risk-on Rally in Q1 2017

The risk-on theme persisted through the first quarter as improving economic data trumped elevated geopolitical uncertainty, both in the U.S. and abroad. Economies in the U.S. and Europe continued to gain traction and the U.S. entered its 93rd month of expansion. In a widely expected move, the Fed raised rates in March by 25 bps, […]

In Context: Market Volatility

Yesterday, equity market volatility touched off a host of headlines and commentary. Here, we present a longer-term context around market volatility. Market volatility can be measured in a number of ways. We address three in the following exhibits, two historical (or experienced) and one expected (or implied). Sizable Daily Moves The table below shows a […]