'What is different this time?': Experts debate a delayed 'year of the bond'

Stark parallels to 2023 outlook

Bond markets failed to deliver the buoyant year experts had forecast at the beginning of 2023 but some are hoping the improved inflation outlook will still usher in the long-awaited rally.

In 2022, bond markets saw one of their biggest declines on record but higher yields, falling inflation and the prospect of interest rate cuts buoyed bond markets at the start of 2023, with experts dubbing it the ‘year of the bond'. By the end of Q1, experts were already pulling back on this view, and at the end of bonds' ‘year', managers are facing their third straight year of losses for the first time in roughly four decades. Higher for longer: Fixed income popularity mounts as investors prepare for a new rates environment "Investors could be forgiven for rolling their eyes at a f...