News

Voya Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income Matt Toms was on Bloomberg TV discussing debt markets and what factors are likely to have an impact in the future. Looking forward, Toms said, “in our view, it’s unlikely that [the Federal Reserve] needs to specifically use yield curve control ... the market is saying the Fed is near zero for an extended period, beyond 2-3 years all the way out to that 5 year bond. It’s only at the very back end with that 30 year where you see the real steepening, so bond markets are saying we could stay at a low level for a very long time.”

Voya Investment Management Head of Securitized Dave Goodson was quoted by GlobalCapital as it looks at how the pandemic and subsequent economic shock have impacted the asset-backed securities market. Many asset issuers have adopted forbearance as “an integral part of ... relief plans to buy some time for their clients to recover.” However, Goodson believes that it remains unclear what direction the economic recovery will take and “the key question is how forbearance translates into real, observed delinquencies” in the market. Looking at specific sectors such as aviation that have been particularly hard hit, Goodson believes that “there will be a return to normal at some point when a vaccine arrives, but the road to that point will be difficult.”

Voya Investment Management Chief Investment Officer for Multi-Asset Strategies Paul Zemsky was on MoneyLife With Chuck Jaffe discussing stock and bond markets. Zemsky believes that with the market near record highs despite earnings that are below expectations, it’s not surprising that many observers think that stocks are overvalued now. He doesn’t see things that way, however, noting that stocks are a good opportunity – especially small caps and international stocks which have been the laggards in the recent rally – while lightening up on bonds, except for corporates where he sees some improved return potential ahead.

Traders Magazine reports, “The retail investor, John Q. Public, has made his presence felt in the equity market structure.” Citadel Securities Head of Execution Services Joe Mecane “said that the new COVID-19 environment ... helped spur retail trading and coupled with institutional order flow, tested market resiliency.” Senior Quantitative Trader and Head of Market Structure at Voya Investment Management Enrico Cacciatore “confirmed Mecane’s assessment that the boost in trading activity was coming from Mom and Pop investors taking advantage of zero-commission fees charged by the major e-brokerages.” Cacciatore said, “Retail, from my vantage point, has been the driver in volume here. You could see the exponential growth on the TRF to prove this. During the crisis, institutions were positioning themselves using passive strategies and repositioning based on returns. Despite this, the activity levels were still more retail-oriented.”

Voya Investment Management Head of Securitized Products Dave Goodson recently spoke with the Debtwire podcast about investment opportunities in the securitized products sector, including CMBS, RMBS and consumer ABS. Dave provided a detailed assessment of many product categories during the nearly 30 minute discussion. According to Goodson, “there’s so much going on in the market now. Things are so uncertain and evolving so rapidly that you can’t take your eye off of any of the balls in the air right now.” Continuing, Goodson said, “probably where we see the most hour-to-hour developments that impact our risk-taking would be in the CMBS market. That space became extremely dislocated in March and into early April. Things have started unthawing and we’ve come back a bit ... but we’re still monitoring every remittance report that comes in for information and for potential clues to the longer-term outlook.”

Voya Investment Management’s Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Finance Greg Michaud recently spoke with Connect Media about “ways institutional lenders are approaching the COVID-19 crisis, and what borrowers need to know about financing their real estate projects in this dynamic environment.” Voya “manages a $12 billion commercial mortgage balance sheet” with investments “split between fixed rate, low leverage, core loans and floating rate, light transitional, core+ loans,” according to Michaud, though the company is planning to reassess its allocation in light of the changing environment brought on by the pandemic. Michaud notes that Voya “is also being a little more particular about the markets in which it invests” and the company “will continue to track the rent collection numbers and focus investment capital on the geographic areas that outperform other markets.”

Voya Investment Management CEO Christine Hurtsellers was on Bloomberg discussing recent job losses, which have so far put 36 million Americans out of work in just the last 8 weeks. Hurtsellers believes an optimistic view is that job losses could be short-lived, saying, “our Federal Reserve and our Treasury Department acted so quickly using what they learned in 2008 and provided 3-4 times the stimulus as other central banks which is limiting the structural damage that we could potentially see.” While those moves have limited the downside impact, looking at the upside, Hurtsellers said that the government has thus far “only deployed about 50% of what they’re intending to do,” meaning that other areas of the economy should begin receiving support in the near term. Her interview begins near the 4:30 mark.

Voya Investment Management Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income Matt Toms spoke with Bloomberg about the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stem losses and help support the U.S. financial system as the coronavirus-induced lockdown impacts the global economy. Toms said of the Fed intervention, “The tools are in place, now you need to run the machine. You need time for the system to heal, and it is healing.”

Voya Investment Management Chief Investment Officer for Multi-Asset Strategies and Solutions Paul Zemsky was on Bloomberg TV discussing recent market volatility and where markets may be headed as the pandemic continues to impact the economy. Zemsky said of last week’s rebound, “I chalk it up to an oversold market ... plus progress on the fiscal package.” Looking at the risk of corporate defaults, Zemsky believes that the fiscal stimulus plus the previous high-level of economic health means that most large companies should be able to withstand the shock. “When you look at investment grade companies, they have a tremendous amount of reserves and the ability to weather storms. That’s how you get an investment grade rating ... high-yield companies have been hit harder, but investment grade companies should be able to weather the storm and with the fiscal help, smaller companies should as well.”

In continuing coverage, ABL Advisor reports Voya Investment Management last week “announced that Randy Cameron and Dave Wood have joined the firm as senior vice presidents to co-head the firm’s Regional and Community Bank Advisory Program. Based in Salt Lake City, both report to Charlie Shaffer, head of Distribution, Voya Investment Management.” In their newly created roles, Cameron and Wood “will work with regional and community banks to advise them on implementing customized portfolios of diversifying credits, including senior secured, commercial and industrial loans.”