Bond Pricing: Agreeing to Disagree
Differences in the pricing of individual bonds has implications for the calculation of funds' net asset values.
Maciej Kowara
Maciej Kowara is a strategist for Morningstar Research Services LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. He specializes in active fixed-income funds.
Kowara has 20 years of investment industry experience. In 2016, he returned to Morningstar after spending four years as an asset-allocation portfolio manager for Aegon/Transamerica. Prior to that, he was a senior research consultant and portfolio manager at Morningstar Investment Services. Earlier in his career, he was vice president of the product analysis group at Deutsche Bank's Scudder Investments and worked as a mutual fund analyst for Morningstar.
Kowara holds a bachelor's degree in classics and philosophy from the University of Toronto and a doctorate in classics from Harvard University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
Latest
When Bond Prices Are a Matter of Opinion
A look at how different firms price the same bonds, including corporate bonds, Treasury bonds, and more.
Jan 20, 2021
In the Absence of Inflation, Some Real Assets Are Down but Certainly Not Out
Real assets are often thought of as an inflation hedge, but their diversification benefits are a plus, too.
Sep 18, 2020
Where Are the Liquid Alternative Shareholders’ Yachts?
Since March 2009, investors have collectively paid $1 billion more in fees to liquid alternative mutual funds than what they’ve gained in return.
Aug 12, 2020
Structured Notes: Buyer Beware
These securities may look appealing on paper, but investors should be aware of their drawbacks.
May 26, 2020
Topsy-Turvy: How to React if Your Fund’s Rankings Went Upside Down This Quarter
Will the bear market keep pawing at your long-term returns?
May 4, 2020
Value and Momentum Fall Out of Favor, but for How Long?
Here's a look at some strategies that combine the two factors and how they have fared.
Mar 24, 2020
A Hint of Spring in Liquid Alts' Recent Performance
The performance of liquid alternatives has shown some marginal improvement over the last three years.
Jun 4, 2019
3 Great Funds Taking a Beating This Year
Dec 10, 2018
What If? The Liquid Alternatives Edition
We address some questions about our recent study on liquid alternatives’ performance.
Sep 27, 2018
How Long Can a Good Fund Underperform?
We give an in-depth look at how we determined that winning managers trail their benchmark for a decade on average.
Aug 17, 2018
Liquid Alternatives Have Yet to Prove They Belong in Portfolios
A framework for evaluating the diversification benefits an alternative mutual fund might confer to a traditional portfolio.
Aug 14, 2018
It's Hard to Find a Serious Weakness in This Bond Fund
We’ve upgraded Western Asset Core Bond's Analyst Rating to Gold, thanks to its improved Parent rating, outstanding fixed-income staff and resources, and fine long-term performance.
Dec 16, 2017
Active-Fund Investors Spread Their Bets
Data point to increasing diffusion of assets across active U.S. stock funds, which could theoretically make the market more efficient.
Sep 14, 2017
20 Years In, Have TIPS Delivered?
TIPS have performed well as insurance against inflation, but they haven’t proven themselves as an investment vehicle.
Apr 11, 2017
Active Bond Funds Holding Their Own
The latest update to the Morningstar active/passive barometer reveals that actively managed bond funds are much more likely to beat their benchmarks than equity funds.
Mar 21, 2017
Will Rising Bond Yields Sink High-Dividend Stocks?
Conventional wisdom holds that higher rates will hurt stocks with high dividend yields, but we find the supporting evidence rather weak.
Feb 16, 2017
Bond Fund Duration May Overstate Rate Sensitivity
Over the last year, we found that bond funds were less sensitive to rates than their reported durations would suggest.
Jan 5, 2017