■ Yield curve changes are being driven by unconventional policies and technical factors, which make the moves harder to interpret.
■ Curve flattening in 2016 has resulted from changes to money market rules at the short end and central bank purchases at the long end.
■ Banks, municipalities and other borrowers are beginning to feel the pinch from rising Libor rates.
■ Fundamentals remain the most important consideration for bond investors and the most valuable guide for pursuing medium- to longer-term goals.

How demographics, reform and capital are unlocking the next wave of emerging markets opportunity

■ High-yield bonds occupy a special capital market niche: They have offered better risk-adjusted returns than equities and lower interest-rate sensitivity than the broad fixedincome market.
■ To date, high-yield bonds have been less vulnerable to the adverse effects of rising rates than other fixed-income sectors and have provided positive total returns in rising rate markets.
■ Adding high-yield bonds to a broad fixed-income allocation has improved portfolio efficiency, based on 10-year hypothetical performance of blended portfolios.
■ Recent problems in the energy sector sparked a broad sell-off of high yield, resulting in value opportunities for investors with the expertise and diligence to select quality issuers.

BNY Mellon’s latest research shows that private equity, real estate and infrastructure managers anticipate strong growth in assets in the next 5 years.