The motto in markets right now is “shut up and take my money”, as the fear of missing out seeps into almost every major asset class. Nowhere is that clearer than in corporate bonds.
This market has struggled for the mainstream limelight this year, bumped out of view by the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is stocks. But just as stocks have ripped higher over the past six months, corporate credit is on the receiving end of rampant investor demand too.
The whole way in which fund managers talk about credit has shifted. For years, they touted spreads — the gap in returns that meant investors are rewarded more generously for buying corporate debt than for typically safer, more boring government bonds. This was the foundation of credit investing.