Destra Insights

February saw markets across the globe return back to the negative environment that categorized 2022. Rob provides a look back at February 2023 in the credit markets and provides some insights about where we could be going in the near term.

A frequently overlooked part of the investment landscape, this edition of the Destra Pathfinder takes a look at Qualified Dividend Income (QDI). To cover the topic, Rob Watson talks briefly with Eric Chadwick, President of Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated about the nature of QDI and some potentially important benefits for investors.

2022 was the year that broke the 60/40 portfolio. Hear from Jake Schultz, CFA on this edition of the pathfinder where he discusses the traditional 60/40 portfolio and how it stacked up to prevailing headwinds in 2022.

The market and a lot of pundits are suggesting that the Fed may pull back to a more traditional 25 bps increase at their first meeting here in a few weeks. But even if they do pull back to a 25 basis point increase, it is still an increase. And arent rising rates supposed to be bad for bonds? Well, looking back at 2022 that certainly seemed to be the case.

2022 is in the history books and good riddance! Most of us will be happy, both personally and financially to put last year far in the rearview mirror. Record-breaking, inflation, soaring interest rates, an old-style dictator rolling tanks across Europe, and funny money crypto platforms going up in smoke; all were factors in the terrible performance of both stocks and bonds in 2022. Listen today for some more interesting insights on 2022 and a roadmap for 2023.

On June 23, the Federal Reserve released its 2022 large-bank Dodd-Frank Act stress test results. They were mostly as expected, and all 33 banks “passed” the 2022 stress test amid the prevailing global economic uncertainty. Under the 2022 “severely adverse scenario”—which factored in unemployment peaking at 10% in 3Q23, real GDP down 6.2%, equities down.

The cliff divers at La Quebrada Cliffs in Acapulco, dive 134 feet into a narrow rocky inlet where the waves swell to a depth of only 14 feet for roughly 5 seconds. They dive when they see rocks knowing that the water will wash in during the time it takes them to descend.

We recently interviewed Eric Chadwick, CFA, portfolio manager at Flaherty & Crumrine, Inc, for an update on the Destra Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred and Income Fund. In this update, Eric covers the market conditions in Q1 2022, the performance of the Fund, and what to expect coming up in Q2 and beyond.

A goal common to seemingly all investors should be to generate higher portfolio returns with less risk. Adding the diversification of preferred securities may help to achieve this Preferred Outcome.