May 1, 2012
Fixed Income Fundamentals
Municipal Bond Default Risk
April 16, 2012
Fixed Income Fundamentals
The Risks in Passive Bond Mutual Funds and ETFs
April 2012
Global Tactical Allocation Portfolio - Quarterly Review
The first quarter 2012 was a continuation of the rally we witnessed during the last half of 2011.
March 19, 2012
Fixed Income Fundamentals
Why Invest in Premium Bonds?
March 9, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
S&P Criteria Changes Could Trigger a Wave of Upgrades
March 6, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
State Credit Ratings Trends
February 2012
Global Tactical Allocation Portfolio - 2011 Year in review
It was a difficult year for most active managers, as we saw many external forces weighing heavily on the markets. Beginning with the earthquake in Japan and for the remainder of the year, all of the headlines reflected the challenges in Greece and Europe as well as the debt burdens we face here in the United States.
February 21, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
President Obama's Budget Proposes Capping Deductibility of Tax-Exempt Interest
February 10, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
A Closer Look at the Threat of "Superdowngrades"
February 6, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
Credit Perspectives on the State of Illinois
January 10, 2012
Tortoise Talk - 2011 Year in Review
Headlines in 2011 were dominated by one macroeconomic event after another as Eurozone debt concerns, the U.S. sovereign debt downgrade and slower than anticipated economic growth all contributed to broad-based market uncertainty. While energy was no exception to short-term volatility, the market recognized quality as evidenced by the performance of energy infrastructure pipeline companies. As we enter 2012, we believe the key fundamental drivers for the energy infrastructure sector remain intact, with accelerated growth potential on the horizon as a result of game-changing activity taking place in North American oil and gas shales.
January 10, 2012
Municipal Market Comments
Wichita Loses Boeing; Long-term Credit Implications Uncertain
January 2012
Convergence Core Plus Fund Commentary
With concerns surrounding global macro risk, investors continue to look for viable alternatives to traditional equity investing. The Convergence Fund incorporates strategies and tools used by hedge fund managers and applies them to the core equity space. Our proprietary dynamic model not only evaluates the attractiveness of equity securities, but also measures and reacts to how investor preferences change throughout the market cycle. We believe this process has helped guide the Fund through these difficult and rapidly changing markets where more traditional methods have come up short. In addition, in our opinion, our ability to engage in short sales on underperforming companies has also supported the Fund, and added to its relative return in markets such as 2011 when classic valuation methods were not rewarded.
December 22, 2011
Fitch Revises 2012 Outlook for States to Stable
December 16, 2011
Medicaid Funding Could Pressure State Credit Quality over the Long Term
December 12, 2011
State Pension Funding Levels Dip Despite Solid Market Performance; 2011 Results Likely to Decline
December 5, 2011
Fitch Revises USA Outlook to Negative
November 23, 2011
Supercommittee Failure Won't Trigger USA Downgrades...Yet
November 18, 2011
Supercommittee Impacts on Munis Unclear
November 11, 2011
Jefferson County Files Bankruptcy: Largest Muni Bankruptcy in History is Not a Sign of Things to Come for the Market
November 3, 2011
Municipal Market Issuance Picks Up, Though Still Lagging 2010; 2012 Forecasts See More Growth
October 27, 2011
Local School District Credit Quality Holding Up Well Despite Pressures
October 14, 2011
Harrisburg Files for Bankruptcy – What Does it Mean for the Municipal Market?
September 29, 2011
Assured on CreditWatch; Ratings on Thousands of Municipal Bonds Affected
September 22, 2011
Massachusetts Upgrade Also Raises State Guaranteed Agencies and Enhanced Local Issues. On September 16th, Standard & Poor’s raised its general obligation (G.O.) credit rating on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to AA+ from AA and assigned a stable outlook.
September 15, 2011
President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act of 2011, delivered to Congress on September 12, contains an unpleasant surprise for municipal investors and issuers. One of the provisions included to offset the expenditures within the bill is a limitation on the tax exemption of municipal interest for higher income investors. The bill proposes to limit the tax exemption of municipal interest to 28% for individuals earning more than $200,000 or couples earning more than $250,000, beginning January 1, 2013. For investors in the 35% tax bracket, this essentially means that tax exempt interest earned would now be subject to a marginal 7% tax rate (the difference between the 28% allowed deduction and the taxpayer’s 35% nominal rate).
September 9, 2011
Municipal Issuance Lowest in a Decade - Low supply continues to be one of the fundamental factors driving the performance of municipal bond investments in 2011. Municipal market issuance in August declined 29% from a year ago, according to figures from Thomson Reuters. For the year-to-date, overall municipal issuance is down 38% from 2010. Total issuance in 2009 and 2010 was certainly inflated by the presence of the BABs program, and other American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, or the “Stimulus Bill”) programs, that provided federal interest subsidies for taxable municipal bond issuance. However, the current level of issuance in the municipal market is the lowest since 2000, reflecting not just the expiration of ARRA but also the fundamental issues affecting municipalities nationwide.
September 1, 2011
Hurricane Irene struck the eastern U.S. with deadly force last weekend, but the severity of the storm was significantly weaker than what forecasters – and markets – had feared. Preliminary estimates of damages from the storm total roughly $7 billion to $10 billion, with estimates of insured losses ranging between $3 billion and $6 billion. Though millions of people still remain without power and are suffering the effects of flooding impacts on housing and transportation, the clean-up is underway in most affected states.
August 25, 2011
Natural Disasters Not a Threat to Muni Ratings
As Hurricane Irene bears down on the U.S. Atlantic coast, it is natural for investors to consider what the implications might be for municipal bonds issued by municipalities in the path of the storm. While damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters can be substantial, the impacts on municipal bond ratings from natural disasters have historically been extremely limited. In our 20 years in the municipal market, we have not seen any payment defaults on municipal bonds due to natural disaster impacts. The very few modest rating downgrades that we have seen were all related to Hurricane Katrina’s unprecedented impact on the New Orleans area and were secured by issuers that were generally of single-A to triple-B credit quality.
August 15, 2011
Market Insight
Perhaps Meredith Whitney Should Have Stuck with Bank Stocks
August 10, 2011
Market Insight
S&P downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA. S&P’s outlook remains negative. Moody’s and Fitch each affirmed its AAA rating on the U.S. and assigned a negative rating outlook.
August 9, 2011
Market Insights from Kenneth A. Powell, Chief Equity Strategist
The situation on Thursday is very similar to last summer’s “flash crash” with the fiscal problems in Europe seeming to be the trigger point for the large drop. In 2010, rioting in the streets of Greece and bank problems in Ireland in 2011 we have Spain and Italy appearing to require a bailout from the stronger EU members. The “flash crash” on 5/5/2010 saw the Dow (the index that the media focuses on in times like these, but in uncertain times all stock indexes react similarly) swing 1,010.14 points intra- day, but recovered to end the day down around 340 points. On 5/10/10 the Dow rallied by over 400 points or nearly 4% showing how the markets can move upward as fast as downward.
August 9, 2011
Our opinion on the current market environment
Market downturns and difficult economic environments are actually normal parts of market behavior and economic cycles. This particular period appears primarily based on very real debt issues in the United States and many parts of Europe coupled with higher than average unemployment levels. While not exactly a popular period for investors, these negative factors actually create opportunity for disciplined investors over the long term. At Nuance, we believe that a more normal economic period will return as population growth and demand for goods and services returns to normal levels. We certainly do not know when that will occur, but have a very high degree of confidence that it will return. While we wait on the recovery, we are pleased to be buying high quality companies that are materially undervalued. This is typically a recipe for consistent investor returns over the long term.
August 9, 2011
Increased debt ceilings. Our nation’s first downgrade of US debt below AAA. Volatile commodity prices. European debt concerns.
It is in times like these that we remain particularly steadfast in our view that energy infrastructure provides investors with an attractive long-term investment opportunity across varying economic conditions.
August 2011
Recent Market Volatility Provides Argument for Hedged Mutual Funds
Recent volatile market activity is causing many investors to revisit the risk inherent in their portfolios and whether or not their client portfolios contain sufficient exposure to mutual funds that can provide downside protection and diversification to traditional stocks and bonds. As added diversification is difficult to obtain and many traditional investments do not provide adequate downside protection, investors may be well-served to embrace investment strategies and mutual funds which involve ‘hedging’ market risk.
August 5, 2011
Remaining Calm in a Market Storm
The situation on Thursday is very similar to last summer’s “flash crash” with the fiscal problems in Europe seeming to be the trigger point for the large drop. In 2010 rioting in the streets of Greece and bank problems in Ireland, for 2011 we have Spain and Italy appearing to require a bailout from the stronger EU members. The “flash crash” on 5/5/2010 saw the Dow (the index that the media focuses on in times like these, but in uncertain times all stock indexes react similarly) swing 1,010.14 points intra- day, but recovered to end the day down around 340 points. On 5/10/10 the Dow rallied by over 400 points or nearly 4% showing how the markets can move upward as fast as downward.
August 5, 2011
Not October 2008
The stock market peaked on April 30 of this year and has steadily declined since, with the move to the downside accelerating in the first few days of August. The 500 point decline on Thursday had all the look and feel of the collapse in 2008.
August 2011
The Dangers of Inverse and Leveraged ETFs
Inverse and leveraged ETFs are special types of ETFs, or exchange traded funds, that attempt to track the opposite (inverse) movement or magnified (leveraged) movement of an underlying index. These underlying indices often track a commodity, basket of stocks or bonds, a particular currency, or some other financial instrument(s). ETFs in general are a popular choice among investors because they provide diversification, liquidity, and can have lower trading costs and better tax implications than buying an index’s underlying securities.
June 30, 2011
Nuance Mid Cap Value Perspectives
The Nuance Mid Cap Value Composite is a classic value investment product investing primarily in the equity or equity-linked securities of United States based companies. The product will typically maintain 50 -100 positions in the securities of companies that, in the opinion of the Nuance Investments team, have leading and sustainable market share positions, above average financial strength, and are trading at prices materially below our internally derived view of intrinsic value. The product’s primary bbenchmark is the Russell Midcap Value Index. Clients may also compare the product to the S&P MidCap 400 Value Index and the S&P 500 Index.
June 30, 2011
Nuance Concentrated Value Perspectives
The Nuance Concentrated Value Composite is a classic value investment product investing primarily in the equity or equity- linked securities of United States based companies. The product will typically maintain 15-35 positions in the securities of companies that, in the opinion of the Nuance Investments team, have leading and sustainable market share positions, above average financial strength, and are trading at prices materially below our internally derived view of intrinsic value. The product’s primary benchmark is the Russell 3000 Value Index. Clients may also compare the product to the S&P 500 Index.
June 27, 2011
Montage Investment Conference Series
Montage Investments Palmer Square Absolute Return Conference Call
Hosted by David Henrikse
