Latest news with #BryanWhalen
Bloomberg
30-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Countdown to the FOMC Decision
"Bloomberg Markets" follows the market moves across every global asset class and discusses the biggest issues for Wall Street. Today's guests; TCW CIO Bryan Whalen, LendingClub CEO Scott Sanborn, Stifel Chairman and CCEO Ron Kruszewski, Teva CEO Richard Francis, and JPMorgan Investment Management Fixed Income Executive Director Kelsey Berro. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
30-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
We Like the Front of of the Yield Curve: Whalen
TCW CIO Bryan Whalen believes even with a new administration, aggressive policies, an economy that was weaker than the market thinks, and a possibility of inflation moving towards 2%, their positioning will still be in front of the yield curve. He speaks with Scarlet Fu on 'Bloomberg Markets.' (Source: Bloomberg)
Business Wire
16-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
TCW Launches $370 Million Core Plus Fixed Income ETF
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The TCW Group, a leading global investment firm, today announced that it has completed the conversion of the TCW MetWest Intermediate Bond Fund (Ticker: MWIIX) into a new exchange-traded fund (ETF), the TCW Core Plus Bond ETF (Ticker: FIXT). FIXT is the newest addition to TCW's suite of actively managed ETFs, which seek to provide investors with the benefits of transparency, low cost, intra-day trading and flexibility. FIXT is a core plus fixed income ETF designed to help maximize total return while maintaining broad market exposure. The fund invests across a broad range of fixed income sectors, allowing the investment team to opportunistically shift allocations based on changing market conditions. 'The conversion of FIXT continues our more than 50-year heritage in providing world-class products that allow investors to capitalize on attractive alpha opportunities while actively seeking to mitigate downside risk,' said Jennifer Grancio, Global Head of Distribution at TCW. 'TCW has more than doubled its ETF assets since last year, and we see continued strong interest in our suite of active ETFs as investors and advisors seek attractive yield and total return for their portfolios.' FIXT is TCW's seventh fixed income ETF since the launch of its fixed income ETF platform in mid-2024. TCW's other fixed income ETFs are the TCW Flexible Income ETF (FLXR), TCW AAA CLO ETF (ACLO), TCW Corporate Bond ETF (IGCB), TCW High Yield Bond ETF (HYBX), TCW Multisector Credit Income ETF (MUSE), and TCW Senior Loan ETF (SLNZ). TCW's fixed income ETF platform today manages over $2 billion in assets. 'Our active approach and track record in managing through changing market environments allows us to be nimble in seeking to be overweight more favorable opportunities while underweighting less appealing market segments,' said Bryan Whalen, Chief Investment Officer of TCW. 'FIXT provides investors the potential for attractive returns while providing ballast in a diversified portfolio.' About The TCW Group TCW is a leading global asset management firm with a broad range of products across fixed income, alternative investments, equities, and emerging markets with over half a century of investment experience. Through its TCW MetWest Funds, TCW Funds and ETF suite, TCW manages one of the largest fund complexes in the U.S. TCW's clients include many of the world's largest corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations, as well as financial advisors and high net worth individuals. For more information, please visit Before investing you should carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained from Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. INVESTMENT RISKS TCW Core Plus Bond Fund ETF (FIXT) is subject to the following risks: High yield securities may be subject to greater fluctuations in value and risk of loss of income and principal than higher-rated securities. It is important to note that the Fund is not guaranteed by the U.S. Government. Fixed income investments entail interest rate risk, the risk of issuer default, issuer credit risk, and price volatility risk. Funds investing in bonds can lose their value as interest rates rise and an investor can lose principal. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities often involve risks that are different from or more acute than risks associated with other types of debt instruments. MBS related to floating rate loans may exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation of similar credit quality. With respect to non-agency MBS, there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in pools created by non-governmental issuers. Non-agency MBS are also not subject to the same underwriting requirements for the underlying mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-related securities that have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee. The Fund's investments denominated in foreign currencies will decline in value if the foreign currency declines in value relative to the U.S. dollar. Fund share prices and returns will fluctuate with market conditions, currencies, and the economic and political climates where the investments are made. The securities markets of emerging market countries can be extremely volatile. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities often involve risks that are different from or more acute than risks associated with other types of debt instruments. All investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. Market volatility may significantly impact the value of your investments. Recent tariff announcements may add to this volatility, creating additional economic uncertainty and potentially affecting the value of certain investments. Tariffs can impact various sectors differently, leading to changes in market dynamics and investment performance. Please see the Fund's Prospectus for more information on these and other risks. The Fund is advised by TCW Investment Management Company LLC. Distributed by Foreside Financial Services, LLC. NOT FDIC INSURED | NO BANK GUARANTEE | MAY LOSE VALUE © 2025 TCW Group. All rights reserved.
CNBC
09-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Here's where to find the best income opportunities right now, according to TCW CIO
Investors looking for income in the current environment may want to turn to securitized products, according to Bryan Whalen, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Los Angeles-based TCW. Right now investors are in "the waiting place" for the next few months as the direction of the economy gets sorted out, said Whalen. While the outcome is still uncertain, Whalen thinks the economy will likely weaken more than the market expects. Yet in many parts of the bond market, investors aren't being compensated for credit risk, he said. Key inflation data comes out this week, with the May consumer price index due on Wednesday and the producer price index released on Friday. "There's a chance everything's all right and it all works out and smooth landing and no landing and all [those] plane analogies. However, if that's the case, that seems to be already embedded in what you get paid to take risk in corporate bonds and high yield bonds and things like that," Whalen said in an interview with CNBC. "If it's not the case … it feels like there needs to be a repricing." The money manager is on a TCW team that oversees more than $170 billion in fixed income assets. While corporate credit is rich, securitized assets are relatively cheap, he said. The latter make up about two-thirds of the assets in the TCW Flexible Income ETF (FLXR), which Whalen co-manages. FLXR YTD mountain TCW Flexible Income ETF year to date The exchange-traded fund has a 5.9% 30-day SEC yield, as of May 31, and a 0.4% expense ratio. It aims to generate consistent income and deliver long-term capital appreciation, and is meant to serve as a complement to a traditional fixed-income portfolio rather than replace it, Whalen said. "We're trying to balance a total-rate-of-return mindset — which is [to] stay high quality, stay liquid, so that we can take advantage of bond market dislocation in the future — with still trying to deliver good income for our shareholders," he explained. "From our perspective, the best way to do that is high-quality securitized [debt], which is offering decent spread levels and decent compensation." Breaking down the portfolio The allocation to securitized assets is distributed between agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS), non-agency mortgages, asset-backed securities and commercial-mortgage-backed securities, Whalen said. Agency MBS, largely from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae , is essentially the highest quality asset you can buy after Treasurys, since they are seen as indirectly or directly backed by the government, he said. Those securities are expected to benefit, "in an environment where yields are still bouncing around — and you're not going to expect that to tighten in — but you are getting paid a decent income while you wait for an eventual remediation in the price and or in the spread," Whalen said. For the trade to work, you have to have a long-term view that interest rates will come down at some point and volatility will subside, he noted. "We'll get through 'the waiting place' and we'll get to a steady-state yield curve that should also bring in, maybe, buyers that have … certainly pulled back from the market in the last few years," he added. Non-agency mortgages have less interest-rate sensitivity and therefore are not as volatile, he noted. Meanwhile, asset-backed securities are essentially a compilation of many different sub-asset classes. "Asset-backed securities really allow you to tailor the specific receivable you want to have exposure to — and then you can pick which parts of the capital structure" to get paid from, Whalen said. "For us, because we're defensively leaning, we can buy good structures at the top of the capital structure, get a floating-rate coupon for anywhere between, let's call it, about 100 basis points over SOFR." The Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, is a benchmark interest rate for bonds and loans. Within this space, Whalen likes collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), which are pools of floating-rate loans to businesses. He favors CLOs tied to single-family rental loans, data centers and assets related to the electrification of the economy. Lastly, while there is still a "fundamental dark cloud" hanging over the commercial MBS sector, partly due to the outlook for office real estate, there are still areas of opportunity, Whalen said. He specifically likes those assets that focus on a single property, rather than a pool of many properties. "When you buy these bonds, particularly at the top of the capital structure, these underlying loans don't allow a lot of prepayment risk," he said. "The prices or the spreads aren't really subject to interest rate volatility." You can also get anywhere from about 100 to 200 basis points over Treasurys for top tier portions of the capital structure, he noted.
