BlackRock’s Bold Pivot: Major Investors Flee Risky Credit as Spreads Crumble to Historic Lows
Wall Street's risk appetite shrinks as credit markets hit unprecedented tightness
The Great Rotation Begins
BlackRock leads institutional exodus from corporate debt—spreads haven't been this thin since the pre-2008 euphoria days. Smart money's voting with its feet while the yield-chasing crowd keeps dancing.
Risk-Off Mode Activated
Major allocators slashing exposure to junk bonds and leveraged loans. The flight to quality's accelerating faster than a trader heading for the exit during a Fed announcement.
Historical Context Bites
Current spread levels mirror previous market peaks—because nothing says 'prudent investing' like following the same patterns that preceded three major corrections. But this time it's different, right?
The Cynic's Corner
Meanwhile, traditional finance continues its delicate ballet of chasing returns while pretending risk doesn't exist—the financial equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic while ordering more champagne.
BlackRock adds caution as rally stretches thin
At BlackRock, Simon Blundell, co-head of European active fixed income, said “relentless tightening” has pushed the world’s largest asset manager to buy safer, higher-rated and shorter-dated debt. He called the current setup a “Goldilocks scenario” built on expectations of steady US growth and rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, but one that offers poor risk/reward balance.
The tightening has become so extreme that in some cases, credit spreads have turned negative, meaning investors are getting paid less for holding riskier debt than for owning government bonds.
Bulls say this is justified by stronger company balance sheets and confidence that Donald Trump’s White House will keep policy supportive while the Fed delivers four more quarter-point rate cuts by the end of next year. But even that Optimism is fading fast.
Spreads have already begun to widen slightly after US-China trade tensions resurfaced and auto-parts supplier First Brands Group collapsed, rattling sentiment across the credit market.
Paul Niven, who runs the £6.4 billion F&C Investment Trust, said his team recently cut its position in credit to “neutral,” dumping high-yield bonds because “the asymmetry in terms of cost compared to government bonds is getting expensive.” It’s a clear signal that money managers no longer see value in stretching for yield.
Investors retreat from risky loans and weaker issuers
The caution is spreading beyond bonds. Several Leveraged loans have been pulled in recent weeks as buyers walked away. A $5.8 billion deal from chemicals producer Nouryon and another worth over $1 billion from drugmaker Mallinckrodt were both scrapped.
Some existing loans have also dropped in price as traders flee to safer assets, and hedge funds are steering clear of shaky borrowers.
Andrea Seminara, chief investment officer at London-based Redhedge, said, “Not only is the corporate credit market way too tight, it’s also equivalently tight between companies. There is lots of idiosyncratic risk which is completely unpriced.”
That’s trader-speak for warning that too many investors are ignoring differences in company strength.
Despite the jitters, not everyone is abandoning credit entirely. Ben Lord, a manager at M&G Investments, said, “Corporate bond yields are attractive and deserve to be owned now.”
The overall yield on corporate bonds received by investors, known as the “all-in yield”, is still seen as attractive by many, due to rises in government bond yields in recent years. The yield to maturity on US investment grade bonds is around 4.8%, according to data from NYSE’s ICE.
Even so, Ben said M&G is rotating into covered bonds issued by life insurers and higher-rated corporate credit, calling the “cost of switching out of BBB-rated unsecured bonds and buying these as low as it’s ever been.”
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