March 2022

February was a volatile month for both equity and fixed income investors. It all started with a near record-high inflation report early in the month that stoked fears of a 50-bps rate hike at the Fed’s March meeting, exceeding the generally held expectation of a 25-bps increase. These concerns quickly waned as Russia shocked the entire world by invading Ukraine, causing global equity markets and interest rates to tumble. The end result was a -1.12% decline for the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond index and a near -3% decline for the S&P 500.