FICC Focus

Credit and high yield had a good 2025 despite tariffs and rate volatility, as spreads held their ground. Will 1Q sustain this resilience, and why? Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence global head of credit strategy, discusses the results of the BI 1Q26 Investor Survey and the market outlook with Ashwin Palta, global high yield PM at BNY Investments Newton. They discuss tight spreads, Fed actions and impending US tech sector supply into Europe, along with distress and default rates. This podcast also covers survey results on investor positioning, sentiment, key return drivers, supply forecasts and relative value across asset classes (high grade vs. junk), geography (Europe vs. US), ratings and sectors.

The G-10 FX narrative has mainly been dollar- and structurally driven year-to-date, while euro headlines have been sidelined. This could change into 2H as European fiscal stimulus starts to lift the region’s economic narrative and validates the ECB-driven relative yield advantage into 2H. In this episode of FX Moment, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief FX Strategist Audrey Childe-Freeman and Constantin Bolz, Head of G-10 FX for UBS’s Chief Investment Office, focus on the euro side of the bullish euro-dollar view and how a cautiously optimistic euro macro narrative can be consistent with a euro-dollar break of $1.20. They also present their strongest G-10 FX convictions for the year — on pro-cyclical currencies including the Aussie dollar and the Norwegian krone — and touch on expected Swiss franc and yen fortunes for 2026.

“It is the inconsistency of decisions which oftentimes bedevils a company’s ultimate success. You create that consistency. You can also push decisioning down from the C-suite into the next operating level. That creates dynamism and speed in decision-making. Speed in decision-making creates faster turns in the capital in the business,” says Andrew Milgram, managing partner and chief investment officer of Marblegate Asset Management. Milgram discusses how his firm works with portfolio companies to improve processes for better operational outcomes in this episode of the State of Distressed Debt podcast. In his hour-plus conversation with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert and Phil Brendel, Milgram shares his perspective on how Marblegate’s direct-investing approach and focus on the middle market de-emphasizes the credit cycle. He also discusses First Brands Group, liability management exercises and his outlook for 2026. The podcast concludes with BI’s Negisa Balluku joining to break down the latest legal developments at First Brands and Serta, followed by a discussion with Brendel and Hebert around Saks’ DIP battle with Amazon and Axonic.

“Hybrid is the ultimate in creative solutions,” says Apollo’s co-head of equity and head of hybrid, Matt Nord, when discussing the firm’s fast-growing hybrid strategy and the types of solutions that may allow it to triple in scale over the coming years. Nord joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert on the latest episode of Credit Crunch to talk about controlling for downside, the benefits of scale and why the lack of realizations across private equity is creating a need for more tailored funding solutions. The two also discuss Apollo’s investment ethos, including its value orientation and pursuit of “excess return per unit of risk.”

The Credit Crunch podcast is part of BI’s FICC Focus series.

The Japanese bond market has experienced significant volatility and increased currency intervention risks this year. Ahead of the snap election in which the prime minister is seeking a renewed mandate, this edition of the All Options Considered podcast features BI's Chief Global Derivatives Strategist Tanvir Sandhu in conversation with Kristi Govella, Associate Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. They discuss Japanese politics, the fiscal outlook and implications for the market.