The recent agreement between the US and China to substantially reduce tariffs for 90 days, following on a trade deal between the US and UK, resulted in a sense of relief among market participants and significant gains. As of May 2025, the broad Russell 3000 index of US stocks is up 0.3% year-to-date (having recouped its earlier losses), and the broad MSCI All-Country World ex-US Index is up 11.6%…
Liability management exercises – also known as LMEs, liability management transactions (LMTs) and distressed debt exchanges – are back in the headlines. LMEs are complex strategies that companies use to restructure their debt obligations – often by exchanging, repurchasing, or renegotiating terms – to reduce financial strain, manage cash flow more effectively, and improve their overall financial health as an alternative to bankruptcy…
The tariff policy escalations at the start of Q2 2025 by the current administration have shaken global markets and raised uncertainty to historically high levels. The resulting policies negatively impacted liquidity, while the decline in equity and fixed income markets also led to the denominator effect in asset allocators’ portfolio…
Despite the optimism at the start of 2025, the escalation of a trade conflict initiated by the US introduced notable volatility and uncertainty into global equity markets. During the quarter, global equities returned -1.3%, international developed, emerging markets…
Values-aligned investing continues to reshape the investment landscape, with $6.5 trillion in US assets under management (AUM) explicitly marketed as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability-focused investments…
On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced a new tariff regime that surprised most observers with its severity, and many risk assets have responded with significant losses and volatility. The risk asset downturn reflects, at least in part, the increased probability...
President Trump and his administration have implemented several tariffs, resulting in an unpredictable environment for investors and considerable market volatility. The administration has ascribed a broad set of goals to tariffs, relating to domestic manufacturing,...
In our Capital Markets Forecast published at the beginning of 2024, we noted that the challenges we faced included the fight against inflation, the outcome and path forward from the November elections, and current and potential geopolitical crises in Europe and the...
The election results are in, with the outcome of a Republican sweep of the presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives. This shift in power signals changes in fiscal, regulatory, and monetary policies that could shape the U.S. economic landscape for years to...
The potential impact of the 2024 U.S. elections on financial markets is on investors’ minds. And rightly so, as elections certainly have implications regarding the country’s direction. According to Gallup, the top concern among voters in 2024 is the economy, including...
For the past decade, Syntrinsic has developed our annual Capital Markets Forecast to inform long-term strategic asset allocations and near-term tactical shifts. Our long-term return assumptions for each asset class are based on quantitative building blocks that are...
Creating forecasts in a world that regularly surprises remains humbling. March of 2020 brought COVID, while February of 2022 had Russia unexpectedly invading Ukraine. And March 2023 saw unanticipated—though perfectly logical—stressors on regional and local banks in...