Bond Markets in the Time of COVID
When there is a dash for cash, where do bond traders turn? During a COVID bond market meltdown period, it was good old-fashioned conservative insurance companies to the rescue. Associate Professor of Finance Alex Zhou of SMU Cox and his coauthors studied what happened to bond market liquidity during the time of COVID, when fixed income markets were essentially dysfunctional. Looking at the really big picture, they show that stable funders are where it’s at. “We don’t think about them, but when you need them—you need them,” Zhou states.