The perfect storm? Market implications for fixed income investors

Covid-19 and US elections throw up shocks

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated economic fallout have already added significant uncertainty to the outcome of the US Presidential Elections.

After a heart-rending plunge in March and April, economic activity has bounced back over the past few months. However, even the sectors that have bounced most strongly have not yet fully recovered, and other sectors have only begun their recoveries. Furthermore, President Trump's hospitalisation in early October due to Covid-19 - along with the infection of several close White House aides and staff - as well as the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the process of confirming her replacement now adds a new dimension of uncertainty to the political landscape...