Emerging market local-currency government debt deserves a prominent place in global fixed income portfolios, as economic fundamentals remain resilient and the US dollar remains rich. Victoria Courmes, portfolio manager on GMO’s emerging country debt team, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed income strategist, to assess the firm’s total return expectations through the second half of 2026. Courmes and Sassower identify undervalued sectors, explore alternative investment strategies and discuss the risk-return tradeoff in opportunistic frontier markets.

With the change in leadership at the Federal Reserve, investors are paying greater-than-usual attention to the outlook for short-term funding markets, money-market funds and the central bank’s balance sheet. Laurie Brignac, head of global liquidity at Invesco, joins Bloomberg Intelligence interest rate strategists Ira Jersey and Will Hoffman to discuss this and more on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast. Brignac explains why lending excess Treasury General Account balances into the repo market may create more operational risk than income, and why shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet would require changes to bank liquidity regulations before reserve balances can fall significantly. The group also examines whether the Fed should return to traditional temporary open-market operations, how stigma continues to limit use of standing liquidity facilities and where Invesco sees value across Treasury bills, commercial paper and ultra-short strategies. They close with a discussion of institutional and retail money-fund flows, the market’s capacity to absorb growing bill issuance and what investors should watch as the Fed’s task forces review its communications, data and balance-sheet frameworks. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

In this episode of the FX Moment podcast, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief FX Strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Chris Turner, head of FX strategy at ING Bank in London, discuss dollar-yen near- and mid-term dynamics. The combined shift in the dollar view following the July 29 Fed meeting, stretched long positioning and joint US-Japan FX intervention were the perfect catalysts for a sharp move lower in dollar-yen, yet the market is already questioning whether the move can be sustained. Childe-Freeman and Turner both see a risk of further joint FX intervention, which should keep dollar-yen bulls in check for now, while US economic data and the associated Fed outlook, along with the BOJ’s September policy decision and Japan’s fiscal credibility, may determine how bullish investors can be on the yen into 4Q. They also discuss non-dollar ways to express the carry trade, including via bullish Norwegian krone and Australian dollar views.

“In the US today, what you see is... capital leaving the system out of the BDCs, and that’s creating a lot of technical pressure on the market,” says Robin Doumar, founder and managing partner of Park Square Capital. “So we should see better structures, better pricing, better terms.” In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Doumar joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert to discuss Park Square Capital’s founding, growth and evolution since its launch in 2004, as well as its prospects for future growth. The two discuss the shift toward institutional private credit from what was once a bank-dominated European leveraged finance market, the benefits of evergreen funds and why current challenges facing large BDCs may create technical tailwinds for direct lenders more broadly. Doumar also talks about borrower selection, being willing to own an asset and the importance of culture to Park Square’s story.

Kevin Warsh’s new communications approach may be creating more uncertainty for markets, not less. Anna Wong, Bloomberg Economics chief US economist, joins Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence chief US interest-rate strategist, on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast. Wong discusses why Warsh’s latest press conference appeared to contribute to the selloff in long-dated Treasuries, how his reluctance to provide a clear policy framework raised questions about the Fed’s commitment to its inflation target and what changes could emerge from the central bank’s communications task force. They also examine whether the Fed could adopt Bank of England-style explanations of individual dissents, publish scenario analyses and reduce its reliance on the dot plot. Wong explains why she expects softer inflation and labor-market data to keep the Fed on hold for the rest of 2026, and how the recent rise in real yields could slow housing, industrial production and broader financial conditions. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series. 

Emerging market equities are among this year’s top-performing asset classes globally as investors benefit from strengthening fundamentals, diminishing foreign-exchange volatility and a more resilient macroeconomic backdrop. Andrew Keiller, partner at Baillie Gifford, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed-income strategist, to assess the environment for thematic and idiosyncratic investment opportunities further down the EM capital structure. Keiller and Sassower discuss the durability of alpha generation, the formation of behavioral biases and structural inefficiencies across EM equity markets.

“There are a lot of people who would love to give away their prepayment option to get their family into the home they want,” says Adam Rilander, CIO and head of agency MBS strategies at Bright Meadow, an investment team within Mariner Investment Group. Rilander joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Erica Adelberg and Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch to discuss housing affordability, potential unintended consequences of mortgage policy, investment opportunities across the MBS landscape and why higher-coupon paper may be undervalued. Rilander and Adelberg also explore the pluses and minuses of mortgage lock-ins, builder buydowns, potential Basel III impacts and why static home prices could be the market’s best medicine. The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Oil volatility and renewed geopolitical risk have complicated what had looked like a supportive backdrop for risk assets in 2026. Brian Levitt, Invesco’s chief global market strategist, joins Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence chief US interest-rate strategist, on this Macro Matters edition of the FICC Focus podcast to discuss why he still sees a constructive medium-term outlook for markets even as the war in the Middle East has shifted the global economy from expansion toward a slower-growth phase. Levitt explains why he believes the resilience of earnings and improving market breadth have made equities healthier than they appeared in 2024, despite investors’ rotation away from some of the market’s most speculative areas. The two also discuss how higher oil prices, central-bank divergence and shifting rate expectations are affecting regional asset allocation, why Levitt expects the US would remain better positioned than Europe in a sustained energy shock and how a slower but still positive growth environment can bring leadership back to growth stocks and technology. They close with a discussion of portfolio construction, the outlook for the dollar and why Levitt remains broadly optimistic that markets are navigating a slowdown rather than the end of the cycle. The Macro Matters podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

Emerging market hard-currency credit continues to outperform most major fixed-income asset classes, yet it also offers a wide range of tactical and relative value positioning. Marcelo Assalin, head of EM debt and portfolio manager at William Blair Investment Management, joins Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence’s chief EM fixed-income strategist, to discuss positioning and performance heading into 2H26. They also examine underlying valuations, with a focus on the fundamental and technical factors that are driving institutional interest in EM fixed income.

Housing affordability, mortgage-market modernization and changing refinance behavior are reshaping the outlook for mortgage-backed securities. Erica Adelberg, Bloomberg Intelligence MBS strategist, joins Ira Jersey, BI chief US interest-rate strategist, on this edition of the FICC Focus podcast, Macro Matters. Adelberg discusses how new credit-score models and lender choice could expand mortgage access while also complicating prepayment and credit analysis for MBS investors. The two also examine how technology and artificial intelligence are changing mortgage origination and servicing, why Rocket Mortgage’s growing servicing footprint could accelerate refinancing activity and how recent housing legislation could affect supply and financing at the margin. They also discuss curve flattening, the resurgence of hybrid ARMs, relative value across agency and non-agency mortgage products and why mortgage spreads remain highly sensitive to volatility even as all-in yields look attractive.