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…