European Green Bonds – Initial Pricing Insights European Green Bonds – Initial Pricing Insights

Is there a relationship between the price of gold and bonds? Most vigilantes would agree that there is some correlation based on inflation, with bond yields and the price of gold rising when inflation is on the way up, and vice versa. Most “goldbugs” would probably agree with this assessment. They would say that the metal was a repository of long-term value and was an effective medium for protecting purchasing power. The late Julian Baring was the man with the golden fund1. He presented the…

Good Friday. 7:30 – Woke up to my phone beeping at me: a text from Evri telling me that the cat food delivery would arrive later that morning. Delivery businesses like Evri that serve the domestic UK market should only be marginally impacted by Trump tariffs. Hence, when its 8.125% 2031 bonds were down 3 points in early April, it was a good opportunity to pick up exposure…

In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a device known as the Infinite Improbability Drive, consisting of some complicated electronics suspended in a cup of hot tea, enabled instantaneous travel across the universe.

Many governments worldwide face increasing scrutiny over their fiscal affairs, and the UK is no exception. As a result, government cost-saving measures have understandably become a key focus. This blog aims to highlight two notable areas of inefficiency within the gilt market.

It’s only been two months since he took office, but Trump’s policy agenda has taken the world by storm. The new US administration has upended a lot of the norms, standards, institutions, alliances, and indeed most rules of engagement, that we have come to take for granted. The speed, breadth and scale of the attempt to re-orient America’s institutional architecture is unprecedented. Whether intended to be strategic or not, such changeability in policy frameworks is uncommon for developed markets. History would suggest that if the…

In an era of rising geopolitical tensions, many nations are ramping up defence spending to bolster security. However, for countries already burdened with high debt, this creates a fiscal dilemma: how to fund military expansion without worsening financial instability. Nowhere is this debate more pressing than in Europe, where Germany—historically the continent’s fiscal anchor, undertook a historic change to its fiscal policy.

When analysing long-term investments, the primary focus is naturally on the potential total returns. Your final profit is simply a function of the future actual returns of the investment, less the original cost. In the realm of fixed interest bonds, this calculation is relatively straightforward. For instance, you can estimate the likely return using the redemption yield, as the coupon is set, and the redemption date and value are known. This predictability allows for a clear definition and  a strong approximation of future profits. However,…

Admittedly, as a native German speaker, I may be biased. But I genuinely believe that the German language has given the world some of the most ingenious and downright beautiful expressions. And I don’t say that just out of patriotism—words like Schadenfreude and Zeitgeist have become global hits. Now, I think it’s time for investors to forget one German word—Schuldenbremse—and add another one—Sondervermögen—to their vocabulary.