The fourth quarter of 2024 marked a reversal from the third quarter, as longer-duration and higher-rated sectors underperformed shorter-duration and lower-rated cohorts, driven primarily by rising U.S. Treasury rates. (Figure 1) Falling prices for Treasuries, Agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and investment grade (IG) corporate bonds contributed to a negative 3.06% return for the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index (the “Agg”). In November, the U.S. election resulted in a changing of the guard, as Kamala Harris was defeated by Donald Trump, and all eyes turned to the incoming administration’s policy proposals, notably, pro-growth policies which further increased Treasury yields. For the quarter, the two-year Treasury yield rose 60 basis points (bps), the five-year rose 82 bps, the 10-year rose 79 bps, and the 30-year bond yield rose 66 bps. Securitized and corporate credit spreads broadly tightened, and credit curves flattened.
Mr. Gundlach is CEO of DoubleLine. In 2011, he appeared on the cover of Barron's as "The New Bond King." In 2013, Institutional Investor named him "Money Manager of the Year." In 2012, 2015 and 2016, he was named one of "The Fifty Most Influential" in Bloomberg Markets. In 2017, he was inducted into the FIASI Fixed Income Hall of Fame. Mr. Gundlach is a summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, with degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy.
As DoubleLine’s Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Jeffrey Sherman oversees and administers DoubleLine’s Investment Management sub-committee coordinating and implementing policies and processes across the investment teams. He also serves as lead portfolio manager for multi-sector and derivative-based strategies. Mr. Sherman is a member of DoubleLine’s Executive Management and Fixed Income Asset Allocation Committees. He can be heard regularly on his podcast “The Sherman Show” (Twitter @ShermanShowPod, ShermanShow@Doubleline.com) where he interviews distinguished guests, giving listeners insight into DoubleLine’s current views. In 2018, Money Management Executive named Jeffrey Sherman as one of “10 Fund Managers to Watch” in its yearly special report. Prior to joining DoubleLine in 2009, Mr. Sherman was a Senior Vice President at TCW where he worked as a portfolio manager and quantitative analyst focused on fixed income and real-asset portfolios. He was a statistics and mathematics instructor at both the University of the Pacific and Florida State University. Mr. Sherman taught Quantitative Methods for Level I candidates in the CFA LA/USC Review Program for many years. He holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of the Pacific and an M.S. in Financial Engineering from the Claremont Graduate University. Mr. Sherman is a CFA® charterholder.
