11 min readAs money market reform reshapes institutional cash investing, treasury teams may find it worthwhile to take a closer look at A2/P2 commercial paper—and its potential impact on portfolio yield and liquidity. Key Takeaways: For corporate treasury teams managing large liquidity portfolios, the past several years have forced a reconsideration of familiar cash investment strategies. After…
21 min readIntroduction: Turning the Page—Who’s at the Controls in 2026? By Lance Pan, CFA If 2024 was the year of the “soft landing,” 2025 became the year the U.S. economy decided to run a marathon in spikes. Fueled by an insatiable demand for Artificial Intelligence investment and adoption, real GDP growth defied gravity, accelerating to 3.8%…
14 min readCo-authored: Andrew Tong Abstract The inclusion of A2/P2 commercial paper (Tier-2 CP) in institutional cash portfolios may help improve income potential and diversify risk. Data suggests that Tier-2 CP offers meaningful yield enhancement relative to comparable benchmarks and Tier-1 CP. Following the SEC’s Rule 2a-7 money market fund reforms, direct investment in Tier-2 CP has…
15 min readIntroduction: Why GSE Privatization Matters to Investors Given their oversized role in home mortgages, any discussion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s potential privatization tends to capture investors’ attention. Recent developments suggest that the Trump administration is exploring plans to sell the government’s stakes in the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) through an initial public offering (IPO)…
3 min readIntroduction Market volatility has been elevated following the White House’s tariff announcement on April 2nd. While the source of this heightened volatility is unique from past periods, it may still be prudent to look to the past for evidence of how to operate in the current environment. For cash investors, we posit some principles that…
19 min readIntroduction By Lance Pan, CFA 2024 was a remarkable year for financial markets in many respects. The estimated 2.7% growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) nearly doubled the Federal Reserve’s median projection of 1.4% a year earlier.[1] The S&P 500 stock index rose 23.3% on the heels of an equally impressive gain of 24.2%…
9 min readCash may be King, but it is also going virtual before our eyes. Digital cash used to be the domain of tech innovators and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. But if a pair of tokenized money market mutual funds (MMFs) is any indication, instantaneous movement of cash untethered to market hours may be close to reality. If today’s…
4 min readRecent market turmoil, triggered by the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hike and disappointing US jobs data, has resulted in a sell-off in Japanese megabanks’ stocks. Cash and short-duration bond investors may be wondering if they should worry about these banks’ credit profiles. Here is a balanced analysis to help them make an informed decision….
7 min readRegistered Investment Advisors (RIAs) vs. Broker-Dealers (B-Ds): An Overview The services of a registered investment advisor or a broker-dealer should be considered if you are seeking to establish a separately managed account for your institutional cash investments. RIAs that are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have a legal obligation to act…
11 min readIntroduction: Higher Rates are Coming to An End Recent comments by Federal Reserve officials indicate that monetary policymakers may soon start lowering short-term rates as inflation and employment data continue to moderate. This shift comes after a period of keeping interest rates more elevated than initially thought. Meanwhile, stockpiles of cash from Covid-era policies continue…