Robert Hopper
11 Years at AB|26 Years of Experience
Robert Hopper is a Senior Vice President and the Director of Corporate Credit and Economic Research. He joined AB in 2013 and now oversees the teams that provide fundamental analysis of global investment-grade, high-yield and emerging-market corporate and sovereign issuers and global economic analysis. Hopper is also responsible for driving the corporate credit research outlook for the Fixed-Income department. He sits on various internal investment committees and is the author of a number of published papers, focused on insights into corporate defaults and fallen angels during the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation risks, and rising star candidates. Earlier in his tenure at AB, Hopper was responsible for coverage of the high-yield telecom, cable, satellite and media sectors. Prior to AB, he was a managing director and head of the High-Yield and Investment-Grade Credit Analyst team at UBS Investment Bank, where he was also the senior high-yield and investment-grade telecom, media and technology analyst. Earlier in his career, Hopper served as an equity analyst at UBS and Bear Stearns. He holds a BS in accounting from Saint Michael's College and an MBA from Boston College. Location: New York
Published Work
New policies could disrupt markets, but high starting yields and strong demand for income should provide ballast.
Weakening economic fundamentals shouldn’t scare away corporate bond investors in 2024—provided they keep a close eye on credit quality.
Despite global economic slowing, corporate fundamentals start the year from a position of strength, which should brighten prospects for corporate bond investors.
Investors have a lot of worries these days. Should corporate credit fundamentals be among them?
Strong credit fundamentals make corporate-bond issuers resilient as interest rates rise.
Inflation is hotter than expected, thanks to robust demand paired with a snarled supply-chain. How long will it take to straighten out the supply-chain?
The macroeconomic picture suggests the recent uptick in US inflation is temporary. But is it? We dig into the micro data that makes the case.
High yield bonds are trading at historically tight spreads, but there's more happening in credit markets than meets the eye. Are Rising Stars a signal of market opportunities?
The US elections are drawing closer, and the potential policy implications are wide-ranging. What might election results mean for corporate credits?
Coronavirus-led economic uncertainty is forcing downgrades, defaults and fallen angels. Could this spell opportunity for credit investors?