Important Information
This information is provided for general educational purposes only without regard to your particular investment needs. This material, including any attachments or hyperlinks, should not be taken as investment or tax advice of any kind whatsoever (whether impartial or otherwise) on which you may rely for your investment decisions, nor be construed as an offer, solicitation or recommendation for any investment strategy, product or service. Investors should consult their financial and tax adviser before making investments in order to determine the appropriateness of any investment discussed herein.
Material authored by any particular Artisan Partners individual or team represents their own views and opinions, which may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Artisan Partners, including its autonomous investment teams or associates. Statements are based on current market conditions and other factors, which are as of the date indicated and are subject to change without notice. While this information is believed to be reliable, there is no guarantee to the accuracy or completeness of any statement in the discussion.
All investments are subject to risk, which includes potential loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
This material may reference index or other information that is subject to copyright by its respective service provider, including the following: MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used to create indices or financial products. This report is not approved or produced by MSCI. Frank Russell Company ("Russell") is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell's express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The S&P 500 and S&P UBS Leveraged Loan Indices are products of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P DJI”) and/or its affiliates and has been licensed for use. Copyright © 2025 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global, Inc. All rights reserved. Redistribution or reproduction in whole or in part are prohibited without written permission of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of S&P Global and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”). None of S&P DJI, Dow Jones, their affiliates or third party licensors makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the ability of any index to accurately represent the asset class or market sector that it purports to represent and none shall have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of any index or the data included therein. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but J.P. Morgan does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. The Index is used with permission. The Index may not be copied, used, or distributed without J.P. Morgan's prior written approval. Copyright 2025, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. Source ICE Data Indices, LLC, used with permission. Source ICE Data Indices, LLC is used with permission. ICE® is a registered trademark of ICE Data Indices, LLC or its affiliates and BofA® is a registered trademark of Bank of America Corporation licensed by Bank of America Corporation and its affiliates ("BofA"), and may not be used without BofA's prior written approval. The index data referenced herein is the property of ICE Data Indices, LLC, its affiliates (“ICE Data”) and/or its third party suppliers and, along with the ICE BofA trademarks, has been licensed for use by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership. ICE Data and its Third Party Suppliers accept no liability in connection with the use of such index data or marks. See www.artisanpartners.com/ice-data.html for a full copy of the Disclaimer. The index(es) are unmanaged; include net reinvested dividends; do not reflect fees or expenses; and are not available for direct investment.
© 2025 Artisan Partners. All rights reserved.
Greece's Dramatic Decade
What a difference a decade makes: Greece, which not long ago was bailed out not once, but twice, and whose interest rates seemed headed for triple digits, has issued negative-yielding debt. Exhibit 1 shows generic Greek 10-year yields since 2010—and their dramatic fall.
In the News
A busy day with ample interesting headlines.
In the News
A smattering of global headlines.
Investors Should Fear More Competition Among Ratings Companies
Does competition among ratings agencies tend to lower the bar or raise it? The evidence presented here would suggest it lowers the bar. Perhaps the way to address the ratings agencies is to fundamentally restructure the business model—for example, if potential buyers paid for ratings, instead of the issuers, agencies would have an incentive to provide an accurate rating to the buyer, rather than satisfy the issuer they were looking sufficiently favorably on their business. Just one idea (with its own flaws—no solution is perfect).
In the News
Softer economic data continue rolling in—prompting rather unsurprising reactions from both equity and bond markets. Plus, we have a new head of the IMF along with a deep dive into the Mexican oil industry to round out the week.
In the News
Just one day into the quarter, markets are off to a rough start—likely resurfacing memories of Q4 2018 and raising questions about whether we’re in for a redux. Time will tell, of course, and in the meantime, here are some of today’s interesting headlines.
Brazil Welcomes Trade, Ricardo Cheers
President Jair Bolsonaro’s young tenure as Brazil’s leader has been tumultuous since he was sworn in on January 1, 2019. But from purely an economic standpoint, one clear positive has been his leadership on trade. Since the EU and Mercosur (the South American trade bloc) inked a deal to create a new trade bloc in June, Bolsonaro has taken steps aimed at holding up Brazil’s end—the most recent: lifting tariffs on some 2,300 imported products (no doubt raising a posthumous cheer from David Ricardo).
About That Irish Backstop …
A key hold-up in Brexit negotiations is the so-called Irish backstop—which has to do with the fact that the only physical border between the UK and an EU country is that between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. This introduces questions about how trade between the two will be conducted once the UK (and Northern Ireland with it) is no longer in the EU, but Ireland remains part of the common market.
In one sense, these tensions go back centuries, resurrecting questions that have long-plagued the island about its proper place—as a country, in relation to the UK, and in relation to the rest of Europe. And then there is the age-old religious divide between Catholics and Protestants.
In the News
Another busy day in monetary policy and macroeconomic news. Here’s a handful of the headlines that caught our interest.
In the News
The repo market garnered a lot of attention as rates spiked, prompting the Fed to provide additional liquidity to bring rates down—just one of several monetary policy headlines today.
Can Countries Improve Their Corporate Governance Practices?
Artisan Partners International Value Team Portfolio Manager David Samra discusses whether he believes countries can improve their corporate governance standards over time.