The second quarter of 2020 produced historic gains for the broad stock indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Index rose 18.5% during the quarter, the largest quarterly gain since 1987 while the Nasdaq rose 30.9% for its largest quarterly advance since 1999. S&P 500 closed the quarter up 20.5% for its best quarter since 1998.
US treasury yields were largely unchanged in 2Q of 2020. Yields from the 1-month tenor to the 2-year tenor hovered around 12-15bps. The 10-year UST yield stayed constant at 0.66%, while the yield on the 30-year UST rose 9bps to 1.41%. The Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Bond index appreciated 2.9% in the second quarter. US High
Like other risk assets, alternatives rebounded during the second quarter with the HFRI Fund-of-Funds Composite Index advancing by 7.2%. Global markets rallied as economies around the world started to ease COVID lock downs and central banks continued to provide support. Specifically, ‘Equity Hedged’ and ‘Event Driven’ strategies were among the best performing alternative strategies following
Credit markets endured significant stress during the first quarter. On a high level, investors quickly tried to sell all types of credit instruments and go to cash. This behavior created a negative feedback loop where indiscriminate selling caused lower prices, which led to more selling and so on. During the worst week, investors were not
Quarterly Commentary is a quarterly view of the equities, fixed income and hedge fund markets from our Family Management specialists.