Inflation Risk

Politico recently reported on the possibility of a concerted attack on the U.S. dollar which, if valid, could have a meaningful impact on annuity owners and other recipients of fixed income . The story suggests that Arab oil sheiks are conspiring with the Chinese and Russian governments to eliminate the U.S. dollar's role as the reserve currency in the global oil trade. The dollar's role in the oil trade serves as a linchpin for its relative strength and role as the world's overall reserve...

Putnam Investments CEO Robert Reynolds spoke about the notion of "lifetime financial product allocation" at a recent industry conference. Reynolds supports the notion of a range of products over the course of one's lifetime that include: Lifetime income options to hedge against longevity risk . Relative return strategies to hedge inflation risk. Absolute return strategies to deal with both inflation and volatility risk ( sequence of returns risk ). Reynolds offered comments on the over-reliance...

Warren Buffett expressed his concerns about budget deficits and inflation risk in a recent New York Times op-ed piece. Asset managers at Pictet and Cie which is Switzerland's largest private bank also have concerns about inflation in the United States, and they are backing this view with part of the $60 billion in fixed income assets that they manage. Pictet is committed to periodic purchases of treasury inflation protected securities ( TIPS ) in light of their inflation thesis. Recent and...