Sweeping changes have been a driving force behind perennial issues in the US fixed income markets, from altered workflows and new technology, to entirely new streams of transparent market data made available to participants.

That’s according to a new report from TABB Group, “US Fixed Income Market: Industry Trends & Drivers 2018 Mid-Year Update,” the fifth in a series tracking a growing list of critical factors impacting the OTC fixed income markets in a post-financial crisis world.
 
However, as Colby Jenkins, TABB Group fixed income research analyst who wrote the report points out, continued regulatory reform in the US and Europe; changing central bank monetary policies; consolidation of assets under management; the accelerated proliferation of electronic trading; reduction in dealer balance-sheet capacity; and declining bid/ask spreads coupled with increased liquidity premiums have continued their place as perennial issues facing US fixed-income market participants.
 
In covering the first half of 2018, Jenkins looked at past market activity and examined trends developing across the fixed-income ecosystem, illustrating the changes underway in terms of the structural components of the market and idiosyncrasies in the rates, credit and swaps markets to gain a better understanding of what may well await trading for the remainder of 2018 and beyond.