Market and economy are giving Fed what it wants
Greg Wilensky and Jason England explain that even with a modestly surprising update to its 2023 interest rate projections, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) still has the latitude to maintain accommodative policy until greater clarity on employment and inflation trajectories emerge.

6 minute read
Key takeaways:
- Despite a change to 2023 interest rate projections, Chairman Jerome Powell maintained a dovish tone during this week’s Fed announcement.
- Economic conditions have allowed the Fed to remain patient as recent weak payrolls data and subdued forward inflation expectations appear to justify an accommodative stance.
- Just as the Fed can be methodical in its approach, so too can investors as recent inflationary pressure appears transitory, and modestly higher bond yields may present opportunities that did not exist in late 2020.
Many of the recent Fed meetings have taken on the excitement of a lawn bowls tournament given how explicit Chairman Jerome Powell et al have been in their commitment to ultra-accommodative monetary policy over the medium term. Yet unlike other meetings since the height of the pandemic, the June 16-17 gathering merited our attention when considering the recent spike in core inflation (3.1% year-over year in April) and – counterintuitively – the past month’s slide in interest rates. How would the Fed reconcile these opposing forces, and what do they believe is worth monitoring in the months ahead? Importantly for investors, what does this all mean for financial markets?
Steady as she goes
As seen in its Wednesday announcement, the US central bank, overall, is maintaining quite an accommodative stance, despite a surprise increase in the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) expectations for 2023 benchmark overnight lending rates. That number, as measured by its DOTs Survey, rose from 0.125% (the zero bound) to 0.625%, implying that the median of voting members now expects two rate hikes of 25 basis points each during 2023. This step is likely a nod to the pace of the US economic recovery as lockdowns end and also perhaps represents a “hedge” that at least some of the much-ballyhooed transitory inflation may not be all that transitory.
For months, market chatter has been concentrated on consumer price levels. While the Fed sees prices rising faster in 2021 than previously anticipated, it does see the inflation rate rapidly converging toward its 2.0% target in 2022 and beyond. We consider the change in 2021 inflation expectations as a nod to the reality of recent consumer price data. Still, further-out projections indicate the central bank believes the acceleration in prices should be short-lived. Any pockets of inflation that prove stickier are likely welcome by the Fed. Lest we forget, one of the primary rationales for ultra-accommodative policy is to push prices upwards and cajole economic activity.
Speaking of the economy…
Many market observers believe that the opposing forces of weak jobs data and rising inflation were nudging the Fed into a corner. We, on the other hand, believe that recent economic developments have given the Fed exactly what it wants. The economic recovery from the depths of the recession has been astounding. With the cause being a natural phenomenon rather than an ‘own goal’ by financial markets – as was the case in 2008 – investors should have expected a vigorous bounce back. But with Fed credibility on the line, continued meteoric improvement could cause them to moderate their dovish intentions. Even with them raising 2023 interest rate expectations, we do not believe Wednesday’s statement marks a paradigm shift in interest rates, as futures markets were already pricing in a modestly faster pace to rate hikes than Fed forecasters.
Two successive weak payrolls reports, perhaps perversely, have given the Fed cover to be only slightly less dovish. Of the 22 million jobs lost at the height of the recession, the US economy is still 7.6 million short of reaching pre-pandemic levels (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation – May 2021). Chairman Powell has made it clear that the Fed’s focus is on employment (and maybe the prices of riskier assets) and is willing to let inflation run ‘hot’ for a few quarters as long as it averages close to its 2.0% target over a longer time horizon.
Market-based inflation expectations, in our view, have also given the Fed a break. While lagging inflation data flash red, forward-looking indicators say ‘not so fast.’ In the past month, the level of annual inflation the Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) market expects the US economy to average over the next decade has fallen from 2.56% to 2.34% – with a considerable slide after the Fed’s June statement. A similar decline is seen in 5-year TIPS implied inflation. As long as these forward-looking expectations do not signal runaway inflation – and after Wednesday’s Fed comments, they definitely do not – we believe the central bank will have the latitude to remain patient in their approach to interest rate policy.
What’s next?
While interest rates garner much of the attention, we believe that investors also should not ignore other policy tools the central bank has deployed during the crisis, namely balance sheet management. As evidenced by Wednesday’s announcement, low rates are locked in. More fluid perhaps, especially if the labour market regains its late 2020 momentum and inflation proves to be more persistent than expected, are possible tweaks to the central bank’s US$120 million in monthly asset purchases. In today’s vernacular, the time has arrived for the Fed to start talking about tapering its nearly US$8 trillion balance sheet. Unlike what occurred in 2013’s Taper Tantrum, we take Chairman Powell at his word that the central bank will be orderly, methodical and transparent in its approach to asset purchases.
Whereas interest rates are blunt instruments that impact the prices of financial assets and influence borrowing rates for consumers and corporations, moderating the level of asset purchases, especially in mid- to longer-dated securities, could represent a more subtle form of tightening, which could also serve markets well by further injecting term structure back into bond markets. This could lead to the dual benefits of incentivising banks to lend and allowing asset prices to be more influenced by underlying fundamentals of issuers rather than the presence of a gargantuan marginal buyer.
Bringing it home to investors
The year’s rise in interest rates may have caught some investors off guard and it certainly proved a headwind for duration-laden portfolios. But it also sent the price of risk-free government securities to levels that allowed for a modest degree of yield advantage and a reintroduction of some diversification benefits with respect to riskier assets. Just as recent data should enable the Fed to be patient as additional economic developments unfold, we believe that interest rates within the current range, should allow investors to also be patient as they evaluate what is next for the economy and financial markets. Given the unprecedented nature of the recession, the speed of the recovery and the outsized influence of monetary policy, staying nimble during this dynamic environment continues to be an imperative.
Duration: a measure of a security or portfolio’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. The higher the figure, the more sensitive it is.
Taper tantrum: markets’ reaction following the US Federal Reserve Chairman’s comments in May 2013, which suggested that the US was considering tapering (slowing down) the rate of its bond buying programme (quantitative easing).
These are the views of the author at the time of publication and may differ from the views of other individuals/teams at Janus Henderson Investors. References made to individual securities do not constitute a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, investment strategy or market sector, and should not be assumed to be profitable. Janus Henderson Investors, its affiliated advisor, or its employees, may have a position in the securities mentioned.
Past performance does not predict future returns. The value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount originally invested.
The information in this article does not qualify as an investment recommendation.
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Specific risks
- An issuer of a bond (or money market instrument) may become unable or unwilling to pay interest or repay capital to the Fund. If this happens or the market perceives this may happen, the value of the bond will fall.
- When interest rates rise (or fall), the prices of different securities will be affected differently. In particular, bond values generally fall when interest rates rise (or are expected to rise). This risk is typically greater the longer the maturity of a bond investment.
- The Fund invests in high yield (non-investment grade) bonds and while these generally offer higher rates of interest than investment grade bonds, they are more speculative and more sensitive to adverse changes in market conditions.
- Callable debt securities, such as some asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities (ABS/MBS), give issuers the right to repay capital before the maturity date or to extend the maturity. Issuers may exercise these rights when favourable to them and as a result the value of the fund may be impacted.
- If a Fund has a high exposure to a particular country or geographical region it carries a higher level of risk than a Fund which is more broadly diversified.
- The Fund may use derivatives to help achieve its investment objective. This can result in leverage (higher levels of debt), which can magnify an investment outcome. Gains or losses to the Fund may therefore be greater than the cost of the derivative. Derivatives also introduce other risks, in particular, that a derivative counterparty may not meet its contractual obligations.
- If the Fund holds assets in currencies other than the base currency of the Fund, or you invest in a share/unit class of a different currency to the Fund (unless hedged, i.e. mitigated by taking an offsetting position in a related security), the value of your investment may be impacted by changes in exchange rates.
- When the Fund, or a share/unit class, seeks to mitigate exchange rate movements of a currency relative to the base currency (hedge), the hedging strategy itself may positively or negatively impact the value of the Fund due to differences in short-term interest rates between the currencies.
- Securities within the Fund could become hard to value or to sell at a desired time and price, especially in extreme market conditions when asset prices may be falling, increasing the risk of investment losses.
- The Fund involves a high level of buying and selling activity and as such will incur a higher level of transaction costs than a fund that trades less frequently. These transaction costs are in addition to the Fund's Ongoing Charges.
- Some or all of the ongoing charges may be taken from capital, which may erode capital or reduce potential for capital growth.
- The Fund could lose money if a counterparty with which the Fund trades becomes unwilling or unable to meet its obligations, or as a result of failure or delay in operational processes or the failure of a third party provider.
- In addition to income, this share class may distribute realised and unrealised capital gains and original capital invested. Fees, charges and expenses are also deducted from capital. Both factors may result in capital erosion and reduced potential for capital growth. Investors should also note that distributions of this nature may be treated (and taxable) as income depending on local tax legislation.
Specific risks
- An issuer of a bond (or money market instrument) may become unable or unwilling to pay interest or repay capital to the Fund. If this happens or the market perceives this may happen, the value of the bond will fall. High yielding (non-investment grade) bonds are more speculative and more sensitive to adverse changes in market conditions.
- When interest rates rise (or fall), the prices of different securities will be affected differently. In particular, bond values generally fall when interest rates rise (or are expected to rise). This risk is typically greater the longer the maturity of a bond investment.
- Callable debt securities, such as some asset-backed or mortgage-backed securities (ABS/MBS), give issuers the right to repay capital before the maturity date or to extend the maturity. Issuers may exercise these rights when favourable to them and as a result the value of the fund may be impacted.
- Emerging markets expose the Fund to higher volatility and greater risk of loss than developed markets; they are susceptible to adverse political and economic events, and may be less well regulated with less robust custody and settlement procedures.
- The Fund may use derivatives to help achieve its investment objective. This can result in leverage (higher levels of debt), which can magnify an investment outcome. Gains or losses to the Fund may therefore be greater than the cost of the derivative. Derivatives also introduce other risks, in particular, that a derivative counterparty may not meet its contractual obligations.
- If the Fund holds assets in currencies other than the base currency of the Fund, or you invest in a share/unit class of a different currency to the Fund (unless hedged, i.e. mitigated by taking an offsetting position in a related security), the value of your investment may be impacted by changes in exchange rates.
- When the Fund, or a share/unit class, seeks to mitigate exchange rate movements of a currency relative to the base currency (hedge), the hedging strategy itself may positively or negatively impact the value of the Fund due to differences in short-term interest rates between the currencies.
- Securities within the Fund could become hard to value or to sell at a desired time and price, especially in extreme market conditions when asset prices may be falling, increasing the risk of investment losses.
- The Fund involves a high level of buying and selling activity and as such will incur a higher level of transaction costs than a fund that trades less frequently. These transaction costs are in addition to the Fund's Ongoing Charges.
- The Fund could lose money if a counterparty with which the Fund trades becomes unwilling or unable to meet its obligations, or as a result of failure or delay in operational processes or the failure of a third party provider.
- In addition to income, this share class may distribute realised and unrealised capital gains and original capital invested. Fees, charges and expenses are also deducted from capital. Both factors may result in capital erosion and reduced potential for capital growth. Investors should also note that distributions of this nature may be treated (and taxable) as income depending on local tax legislation.