Some forecasters are currently predicting that 10-year rates will end the year above 5%, others are predicting a level below 3%, and the chart below shows the standard deviation of the 12-month ahead forecast for 10-year Treasury yields for 26 private sector forecasters since 2019.
The rising trend in the standard deviation of forecasts shows a very high level of disagreement among forecasters about what will happen to long-term interest rates in 2024.
This is not surprising because some would argue that a soft landing with Fed cuts and lower inflation would result in lower long-term interest rates.
Others would argue that a soft landing with no recession and the risk of reacceleration will push rates higher.
On a different note, others would argue that the key driver of rates in 2024 will be a higher term premium, driven by the coming massive increase in the supply of Treasuries.
What is most remarkable about the high level of disagreement among forecasters is that the same elevated level of uncertainty is entirely absent in the MOVE Index and the VIX Index.
The bottom line is that we have a busy year ahead of us in markets with extreme disagreement about the forces driving longer-term interest rates.
Source: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist. (Note: We calculated standard deviation of individual analyst’s forecast for 12 months ahead for every month starting January 2019. The list of contributors in our calculation: UBS, Citigroup, HSBC holdings, Wells Fargo & Co, University Of Texas At El Paso, RBC Financial Group, Natixis SA, Naroff Economic Advisors, Mortgage Bankers Association, MacroFin Analytics LLC, Kasikornbank PCL, ING Groep NV, First Trust Advisors LP, Fannie Mae, Desjardins Securities Inc, Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc, Commerzbank, Action Economics, ABN Amro, Bank of Montreal, TD securities, Nomura, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Hamburg Commercial Bank AG.)
This presentation may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others in whole or in part without the express consent of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Apollo”).
Apollo makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, reasonableness, or completeness of any of the statements made during this presentation, including, but not limited to, statements obtained from third parties. Opinions, estimates and projections constitute the current judgment of the speaker as of the date indicated. They do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Apollo and are subject to change at any time without notice. Apollo does not have any responsibility to update this presentation to account for such changes. There can be no assurance that any trends discussed during this presentation will continue.
Statements made throughout this presentation are not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, accounting, legal or tax advice and do not constitute an investment recommendation or investment advice. Investors should make an independent investigation of the information discussed during this presentation, including consulting their tax, legal, accounting or other advisors about such information. Apollo does not act for you and is not responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients. This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, product or service, including interest in any investment product or fund or account managed or advised by Apollo.
Certain statements made throughout this presentation may be “forward-looking” in nature. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking information. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology including, but not limited to, “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target”, “project”, “estimate”, “intend”, “continue” or “believe” or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology.
