Mortgage Rates Plummet
Lowest rates in a couple of years, and overall, near historic absolute lows. Just makes me wonder about long term fixed income portfolio management. Borrowers have lower probability of default (which is great and assumes current controls on credit availability stay intact), and lenders don't face early payoff risk. Wonder how much capital is going to be tied up as dedicated against specific liabilities (insurance companies) for longer terms. Interesting. Also wonder what effect this could have on local public employee retirement plans, and the endowment of University of Memphis, Christian Brothers University, Rhodes, etc. Common logic dictates that there be proportional exposure to fixed income, however, in an ultra low yield world, does that make sense? Consider the delta between the rate of return on fixed income vs. rate of appreciation for retiree benefits (COLA's) and, worse yet, the rise in medical and OPEB.
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