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After three false starts, the hibernating bear has come out roaring with the sharpest peak-to-trough decline in global equities on record. Governments, business leaders, and individuals are putting commerce on hold and accepting the cost of a likely recession to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The recession period is expected to be brief, provided measures to contain the spread and policies to address economic disruption are effective. Rebalancing portfolios is always difficult, especially during bear markets.

By leveraging the power of your investment portfolio through securities-based lending, you can free up available cash by using a portion of your eligible portfolio holdings as collateral. While there are potential risks in borrowing against your portfolio, they can be managed for a host of needs, ranging from asset purchases to wealth planning to tax payments.

Much is being said about the demise of globalization, but its death notice is premature. It also significantly underestimates the durability of the international institutions constructed post-WWII and how the digital economy will effectively blunt this latest round of temporary global protectionism. In this issue of The Real Economy, we explore the evolution of the digital economy and its impact on policies, populism, globalization, and growth.

Does market volatility mean vulnerability for portfolio owners with investment-grade corporate bonds? Find out why corporate laddered bonds can thrive—no matter the market cycle.

As equity markets catch a nasty case of the coronavirus, what’s an investor to do? Four things to focus on amid the downturn.

In periods of elevated volatility such as the fourth quarter of 2018—when we saw the largest quarterly decline in the U.S. market, as measured by the S&P 500, since the third quarter of 2011—investors have many opportunities to harvest losses. Preserving tax benefits by avoiding wash-sale violations becomes even more important during these periods. However, there are occasional circumstances that make wash sales unavoidable. It's important to understand why they occur and why they aren't necessarily a negative.

The robust steps taken by the Federal Reserve to shore up the front end of the money markets are essential to the free flow of capital and global economic stability. Whether the Fed will bring back some of its financial crisis-liquidity and lending facilities to address the escalating Coronavirus crisis in the financial system, the bottom line is that well-functioning money markets are necessary for commercial activity.

In a world of low expected returns, finding alpha becomes more important than ever. Given the significant amount of capital looking for alpha in private markets, family offices will need to bridge the performance gap in this slower growth environment by leveraging their longer time horizon and partnering with experts in private market investments. Alpha, while elusive, can be found if one knows where to look.

In a time of equity market volatility, municipal bonds are doing what they’re supposed to do: diversify portfolios. Learn what may come next in the muni market.

From a historical perspective, the odds for a strong volatility risk premium (the "VRP") in 2020 are in your favor. Although it can't be predicted with any level of certainty the returns derived from exposure to the VRP this year, the range of likely outcomes can be determined based on empirical evidence while respecting known and unknown sources of uncertainty. If you're willing to wait and see, history suggests you'll be compensated.