WFIGO INVESTMENT BLOGS

You need arrogance as a value investor, but it can also be your downfall. So how do you master the psychological side of value investing? Volatility can be both a feature and a bug of investing. Value investors attempt to treat it as a feature. We try to take advantage of the exuberance of the upswing and the pessimism of the downswing. I use the words attempt and try because though this approach sounds great in theory, reality proves to be a lot more challenging. This gap between theory and practice is created because volatility doesn’t waltz in a vacuum.

It is no secret that 2022 has been a rough year for pretty much all asset classes across the board. While US equities have fallen more than 20%, the average fixed-income security hasn’t fared much better: Most are down at least 10%. Of course, bonds and other fixed-income assets are supposed to offer diversification benefits and provide something of a cushion for when the equity component of a portfolio runs into rough times. Clearly, they are not performing these functions especially well of late. With this in mind, we sought to understand when fixed-income assets have actually done what portfolio managers and investors expect them to do.

Fixed-Income securities are debt instruments that pay a fixed amount of interest—in the form of coupon payments—to investors. The interest payments are typically made semiannually while the principal invested returns to the investor at maturity. Bonds are the most common form of fixed-income securities. Companies raise capital by issuing fixed-income products to investors.
A bond is an investment product that is issued by corporations and governments to raise funds to finance projects and fund operations. Bonds are mostly comprised of corporate bonds and government bonds and can have various maturities and face value amounts. The face value is the amount the investor will receive when the bond matures. Corporate and government bonds trade on major exchanges and usually are listed with $1,000 face values, also known as the par value.

A money market fund is a type of mutual fund that invests in high-quality, short-term debt instruments, cash, and cash equivalents. Though not quite as safe as cash, money market funds are considered extremely low-risk on the investment spectrum. A money market fund generates income (taxable or tax-free, depending on its portfolio), but little capital appreciation. Money market funds should be used as a place to park money temporarily before investing elsewhere or making an anticipated cash outlay; they are not suitable as long-term investments