Elana Margulies-Snyderman of EisnerAmper conducted an interview with Liridon Gila, the Co-CIO of Sawgrass Asset Management, to get his thoughts on active equity and fixed income. 

Gila starts with a broad view by trying to identify where we are in the economic cycle, and how monetary and fiscal policy will move in reaction which causes its own ripple effects for markets and the economy.

Currently, he sees a challenging environment for risk assets as the odds of a recession continue to rise. Despite this, the Federal Reserve is maintaining its hawkish posture and pulling liquidity from the market. Fiscal policy has been a major driver of the economy over the last couple of years, but this is unlikely to continue to be a tailwind given a divided Congress.

While he is wary of equities, he is more optimistic about fixed income. This is primarily because he expects that inflation has already peaked which would be a healthy tailwind for bonds. Additionally, he sees a normalization of inflation and rates over the next couple of years which means that current yields are quite attractive and unlikely to remain at these lofty levels. 

Finsum: Active fixed income is a great strategy for the current market given rising odds of a recession, peaking inflation, and very attractive yields.

Municipal bonds are not exactly the most exciting part of the market. Most investors usually only think of them when there is a crisis or high-profile downgrade.

Yet, in today’s environment it makes sense why there is renewed interest in the category. They are one way that investors can take advantage of higher rates, but they also provide a greater degree of safety given that default risk is much lower.

Todd Rosenblum discusses why the successful resolution of the debt ceiling could be a catalyst for further gains in a blog post for ETFTrends. Prior to the resolution, there was a surge of demand for Treasuries as investors were looking to de-risk their portfolios. 

Now, there is outflow from Treasuries and expectations of more weakness given strength in equity markets and increased supply coming online over the next few months. Thus, there is a rotation into other types of fixed income products. 

Municipal bonds are one recipient of these outflows especially as they offer tax benefits. Investors also can buy a municipal bond ETF which is a diversified, low-cost way to get exposure to the asset class. 

Finsum: Municipal bonds are one way that investors can take advantage of high yields, while also offering tax benefits. They are seeing renewed interest following the debt ceiling resolution.

While ESG investing has boomed over the past decade, there are some drawbacks. One is the lack of clear definition of ESG, and what qualifies an investment to be sufficiently deemed ESG. For instance, some ESG funds have much wider latitude, while others are much more discriminating. In an article for Vettafi, James Comtois discusses why some investors who believe in ESG investing are nevertheless unsatisfied with many ESG investment options.

Another issue is greenwashing which is when a company is deceptive or gives false information about its products or processes. As an example, some ESG funds will contain fossil fuel companies, or companies with a record of pollution.

This also brings up a broader criticism of ESG that asset managers are forcing their views on investors, markets, and companies. For investors who believe in ESG investing but are wary of greenwashing, direct indexing offers a solution.

With direct indexing, any ESG index can be replicated, and any companies can be excluded that merit concern. With direct indexing, investors can ensure that their values are reflected in their investments, while retaining the benefits of investing in a diversified index with low fees. 

Finsum: Direct indexing solves one of the major concerns about ESG investing which is that it includes many companies with poor environmental records who are engaged in greenwashing.