John Taylor

Political risks and central bank easing pave the way for active managers in the European bond market.

European bond markets are climbing a mountain of worry. Despite the risks, history suggests a positive outcome.

Prospective US policy changes look adverse for Europe’s governments and economies—but mostly positive for bonds.

Balancing credit risk with interest-rate risk in a dynamically managed portfolio can be an all-weather approach.

We think it would be a mistake for investors to let tighter spreads and upcoming maturities deter them from the euro high-yield market.

Across Europe, ruling parties are under pressure. Bond investors should stay active and invested, in our view.

US investors often stick to US markets. But that could be a costly mistake—especially today.

Although markets expect both the Fed and the ECB to cut rates over the summer, macro developments could change that forecast.

Sovereign debt levels soared during the pandemic, and countries at the eurozone’s periphery may look high risk. But appearances can be deceptive.

Policy easing should help euro and UK sovereign bonds, while fundamental, technical and valuation factors are all supportive for euro credit markets.

We believe that—although the battle with inflation is not completely won—inflation is now more likely yesterday’s than tomorrow’s problem.

We believe investors should prepare to back the beneficiaries of lower euro rates-but hold off taking big interest-rate risk positions for now.

UK government bonds prices have plunged recently. Sterling-denominated corporate bonds have also fallen sharply and are looking very cheap.

COVID-19 is triggering a new era of central banking. We believe this will play out just as powerfully in the euro area as elsewhere.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming many aspects of our everyday lives. But why should AI be vital for European fixed-income investors? Today’s low-yielding and less-liquid markets hold the key.

European bond investors are facing a quandary, with yields seemingly anchored at low levels but more price volatility likely. In this environment, we're seeking catalysts for buying opportunities in a tricky market.

As Christine Lagarde prepares to take up her post as the next president of the European Central Bank (ECB), investors are wondering whether the change of leadership will signal a regime shift in monetary policy. Probably not, for two reasons.

With quantitative easing (QE) set to relaunch in the eurozone, ultra-low or negative rates look likely to extend into the foreseeable future. In this environment, we believe a selective approach and dynamic management are the keys to worthwhile returns in fixed income.

It seems like only yesterday that markets were expecting quantitative tightening (QT) and higher volatility. But now, renewed euro-area quantitative easing (QE) will likely suppress volatility-and bail out the sovereigns that have been struggling the most.

Global Dynamic Bond Portfolio manager John Taylor is co-head of European Fixed Income at AllianceBernstein (AB), with 19 years' experience at the firm. In this Q-&-A John discusses how the current market environment is driving positioning in the Fund. He shows how a nimble risk-aware approach, dynamic management and the application of new technology are key to meeting the challenges of today's bond markets, and to generating stable returns.

Now that the UK has avoided (at least for now) a hard Brexit as it negotiates to extend Article 50, investors might reasonably wonder whether they can relax for a moment and take stock of the bigger picture. What sort of longer-term future does the European Union (EU) have, irrespective of the UK?

The widening US LIBOR OIS spread has roused worries that markets may be facing a rerun of 2008. At this stage, we see no imminent cause for concern and we have identified some new trading opportunities in short-dated paper.